It’s Friday 28th August 1992 and French Formula One driver Erik Comas has just slotted his Ligier Renault into sixth gear as he is approaching the almost flat out Blanchimont corner at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. He is pushing hard in qualifying, but overcooks it as he turns into the 180mph corner. The resulting crash is huge, the Ligier hits the barrier hard and Comas is hit on the head by one of his own wheels, instantly knocking him out.
The car spins back onto the circuit, parts scattering far and wide as Comas is slumped in the cockpit. In his unconscious state, his right foot is pinned against the throttle, the high revs clearly audible from the track side TV coverage. Worryingly, the impact has also ruptured a fuel line, which is spraying into the engine bay.
The first driver onto the scene was Ayrton Senna, who weaved slowly through the wreckage, looking at Comas and hearing the Renault V10 singing away. What happened next has gone down into folklore, with Senna parking his car, jumping out and running to the aide of Comas as other cars drove around the wreckage.
Senna immediately cut the ignition on the Ligier, which stopped the engine and significantly reduced the risk of fire. He then helped to direct the marshals, who were now on the scene. To this day Comas believes Senna saved his life by stopping the engine. It was incredibly brave by Senna as the circuit was still live, albeit with yellow flags being waved.
Senna also rushed to the aide of Alex Zanardi when he crashed his Lotus at Spa the following year and he also visited the sites of Martin Donnelly’s crash at Jerez in 1990 and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994. This was the real conundrum with Senna, in that he would see no issue in driving Alain Prost off the road at 150mph, but displayed great courage and compassion when other drivers had crashed.
There are numerous incidents such as these littered throughout the history of motorsport, where a driver has shown courage, integrity and selflessness. They can be categorised in two ways; sporting gestures or instances of incredible bravery.
One of the bravest displays I ever saw was actually about digging deep under great sadness. Motorcycle road racing in Ireland and the Isle of Man is probably the most dangerous motorsport there is. At the Isle of Man TT for example, the riders average over 135mph for the lap and hit over 200mph on some longer sections. This is all through villages, towns and the countryside.
The most successful proponents of road racing are the Dunlop family, with 50 Isle of Man TT wins across brothers Joey and Robert, and Robert’s son Michael. Joey was the most successful, but lost his life in 2000 in a road race in Estonia.
At the 2008 North West 200 in Northern Island, Robert was killed during practice for the 250cc race. Robert’s sons Michael and William were also competing in the same event and after this overwhelming loss, they both decided to race, despite some protestations from the organisers that they shouldn’t.
There was obviously a great deal of attention on the 250cc race with Michael stating “I want to do it in his (Robert’s) memory. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do regarding my own career.”
Unfortunately William had a technical issue and couldn’t start the race, but Michael soon showed his pace and moved to the front. With a comfortable lead throughout, he won the race.
Most of the crowd had a tear in their eyes and showed their support and appreciation. Third place rider John McGuiness recalls “seeing all those fans waving their programmes around the circuit is something that will stay in my mind forever.”
The scenes as Michael came back into the pits, with hardened motorcycle road racers and mechanics being reduced to tears, was a powerful image. After the huge loss to Dunlop, his family and friends, to go out and win the race in his father’s honour was the perfect tribute.
Sometimes drivers show sportsmanship in unlikely situations, either when another driver has punted them off the track or when they have been dealt a bad hand. Arguably the way Lewis Hamilton congratulated Max Verstappen after the farcical ending to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a case in point, but so too is Al Unser Jr’s behaviour at the 1989 Indianapolis 500.
Coming into the penultimate lap, race leader Unser approached a group of lapped cars. This slowed Unser up and allowed second placed Emerson Fittipaldi got a run on him down into turn three. Side by side going in, they touched and Unser hit the wall.
When Unser got out of the car he had every intention of flipping Fittipaldi off as he passed by on his victory lap. He had a last minute change of heart however reasoning that Fittipaldi had led for much of the race and it was his first victory in the Indy 500. He decided to applaud Fittipaldi instead, a class act by Unser.
Another class act was Jim Clark, in every sense, but in this case through the way he reacted after the 1963 Indy 500. The car of race leader Parnelli Jones started leaking oil from a cracked overflow tank. The spillage allegedly caused numerous other cars to spin, including Eddie Sachs who spun twice and hit the wall on the second occasion.
The USAC Chief Steward Harlan Fengler was ready to throw Jones the black flag until car owner J.C. Agajanian ran over to him to argue his case. He stated that it was a small crack and in any case the oil level had dropped below the crack and that numerous other cars were spilling oil anyway. Never one to back down from a debate, Lotus boss Colin Chapman also got involved in the confrontation, given his driver Clark was now slip sliding his way in second place.
Fengler decided to let Jones continue, who then ran out the winner with Clark in second place. After the race Jones got into a verbal, then physical confrontation with Eddie Sachs, resulting in a black eye for Sachs. Chapman expressed his displeasure of the situation reasoning that if it was an American driver in second place rather than a Brit, then Jones probably would have been black flagged.
As for Clark, he shrugged his shoulders and kept his mouth shut. Rather than stalk away in disgust, Clark did the opposite as Jones recalls, “Clark came up after the race and congratulated me,” he adds, “and I thought that was very classy.” The shy driver from the Scottish Borders would have his moment two years later.
Another controversial ending to the Indianapolis 500 came in 1982, which also happens to be one of the best endings in the history of the race. Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears battled it out over the final 40 laps in a ferocious duel which came to a head on the penultimate lap. Mears had been gaining on Johncock, who’s car wasn’t handling quite right. It looked like it would be settled on the last lap.
Johncock was pulling down below the white line through the corners trying to make his car handle better, but this allowed Mears to slipstream him down into turn one. At the time the racing etiquette at Indianapolis was very correct, with no chopping or moving over on other cars. The speeds and the risks were too high. The consequences of hitting the wall in this era was demonstrated in qualifying with the fatal accident of Gordon Smiley.
Mears and Johncock were side by side into turn one, but it looked like Mears had the momentum, that is until Johncock cut across his bow and took the apex. Mears had to back off and the resulting loss in speed arguably cost him the win, albeit he was still second in the closest finish in the history of the race to that date.
After the race Johncock said he had no intention of backing off into turn one and that he had been prepared to go through side by side if necessary. Mears sportingly wouldn’t concede that Johncock’s chop at turn one was dirty, he simply said “it was Johncock’s corner” and that he wouldn’t change the result of the race.
Back in 1956, the Formula One season saw the dashing British driver Peter Collins join Scuderia Ferrari in a dream line up which also included Eugenio Castellotti, Alfonso Portago, Luigi Musso and Juan Manuel Fangio. Collins had a great season, winning twice and coming into the final race at Monza just eight points behind Fangio in the championship.
Collins had a slim chance of winning the world championship (he would have been the first British driver to do so), but in order for that to be a possibility, Fangio would have to not finish. This is exactly how the scenario played out in the race, with Fangio retiring and the only other championship contender Jean Behra also pulling out.
It was looking good for Collins. At the time, drivers could share cars, so Ferrari put the pit board out for Luigi Musso to come in and hand his car to Fangio. Eyeing a victory in his home race Musso refused and stayed out. Collins spotted what was happening and made an incredible decision. He pulled into the pits and handed his car to Fangio.
Fangio went back out into the race and managed to finish second to Stirling Moss. In doing so Fangio claimed enough points to be crowned champion for the third time. In handing his car over, Collins effectively ended his own championship chances. It was an astonishing display of sportsmanship from Collins who reasoned that Fangio was the best driver in the world and deserved to be the champion, and besides he had plenty of time to win it. It was a demonstration of sportsmanship that simply wouldn’t happen in modern motorsport and testament to an age where honour was perhaps regarded higher than the result.
Speaking of honour, two years later when Fangio had won five titles, he decided to wind down his career and competed in his final Formula One race at the French Grand Prix. Driving a slightly outdated Maserati 250F, he was circulating in fifth position when race leader Mike Hawthorn came round to lap him. The respect of Fangio ran deep throughout all of the drivers, and rather than dishonour Fangio by lapping him in his final race, Hawthorn decided to back off and follow the Maestro home.
At the tail end of that season, Hawthorn and Stirling Moss were vying for the championship. At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Moss won from Hawthorn, but shortly after the race Hawthorn was disqualified as he had apparently restarted his car against the direction of the circuit following a spin, something which was not permitted.
Moss had seen the incident and came to the defence of Hawthorn, stating he had done nothing wrong and the stewards had been misguided. Hawthorn’s second place and his seven points were reinstated. At the end of the championship Hawthorn beat Moss to the title by one point. Years later Moss was asked why he had gone to Hawthorn’s defence, as nobody else would have known what Hawthorn did was legal and if Moss had kept his mouth shut he would have won the championship. Moss simply replied “I’d have known”. That’s real sportsmanship.
Speaking of sportsmanship, at the end of the 1982 USAC Silver Crown dirt car championship, Ken Schrader was still in the hunt for the title, along with six other drivers. As they prepared to race in the final round at Nazareth National Motor Speedway, Schrader’s car developed mechanical issues. His friend Sheldon Kinser magnanimously handed over his own car to Schrader so he could at least have a shot at the title.
Despite having to start in last place, Schrader worked his way up to fourth position, which gained him enough points to win the championship. Years later Schrader had a son which he named Sheldon.
The 1971 Indianapolis 500 had its fair share of shunts during the race, including the pace car at the race start! On lap 167 Mike Moseley lost a wheel and hit the turn four wall. Following him was Bobby Unser who spun in avoidance and backed his car into the wall hard resulting in a flash fire. Mosley rebounded into the inner wall which jutted out towards the track, but sitting there were the retired cars of Mark Donohue and Steve Krisiloff.
As Mosley crashed into them Donohue’s fuel tank exploded. Gary Bettenhausen saw what happened and thought nothing of stopping his car, jumping out and running to help. Initially jumping over the wall, he then stepped back into the crash site to help the marshals recover Mosley. A year later at Michigan Speedway, Bettenhausen also rushed to his brother Merle when he suffered career ending injuries during the race.
Racing drivers at the time were almost like a band of brothers. In most occasions they would do anything to save their comrades. Back in 1965 at the Langhorne Indycar race, Mel Kenyon’s engine let go and he spun on his own oil as he was pulling down into the infield. He was then collected by Jim Hurtubise and Ralph Ligouri. The resulting crash ruptured the fuel cell on Kenyon’s car and knocked the driver out cold. Seeing the fire, Hurtubise and Ligouri jumped clear.
Meanwhile race leader Joe Leonard saw what was happening, stopped his car, ran over to Kenyon and tried to pull him clear. Eventually they got Kenyon out of the car, but he’d been in the fire for three minutes, was 60% burnt and ended up losing all of his fingers on his left hand. Thereafter he constructed a glove which he would hook to the steering wheel and was still racing as recently as 2003.
The 1970’s more than any other era had a recurring theme of drivers being trapped in crashed cars that were on fire. Formula One races in particular tended to be run in a chaotic fashion, with inadequate safety conditions and often clueless officials. More often than not it was other drivers that had to step in and save other drivers.
The most famous instance is Arturo Merzario pulling Niki Lauda from his burning car at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Merzario, who only stood at 5’7”, somehow reached into the fire and pulled out the unconscious Lauda. He undoubtedly saved the Austrian’s life.
Two years later at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, Lotus driver Ronnie Peterson crashed at the start and was trapped in his burning car with broken legs. James Hunt, with the help of Clay Regazzoni and Patrick Depailler, pulled Peterson out of the flames. Despite non-life threatening injuries, Peterson died in hospital that night.
Regazzoni had been on the receiving end five years earlier at the 1973 South African Grand Prix. British driver Mike Hailwood had crashed into the stationary BRM of Regazzoni and jumped out to pull the unconscious Swiss driver from his car. Hailwood himself was soon on fire, he ran to the infield to be put out, before returning to the scene and helping getting Regazzoni clear. Hailwood was awarded the George Medal for his part in the rescue.
Four months later David Purley was also awarded the George Medal for single handedly trying to save Roger Williamson from his upturned March at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix. Ex-British Army Officer Purley, tried to first right the car, then extinguish the flames single handedly whilst marshals stood by and watched.
A humble man, Purley would say later “I’m not a hero, I just did my duty. Like when we pulled comrades out of burning tanks in Yemen. Those who made the war know these things, acting is not poetry or altruism but only a conditioned reflex.”
Even though the risk of fire is very low these days, it does still happen in motorsport, Romain Grosjean’s crash in Bahrain 2020 is testament to that. But in 2006 during an Asian Formula Three round in Sentul, local driver Moreno Soeprapto climbed up over the back of James Winslow and somersaulted into the barrier. The car was against the barrier cockpit first so Soeprapto had no way of getting out.
Winslow hopped out of his car and immediately rushed over to Soeprapto’s wreck, pushing it away from the barrier enough to get down to where the cockpit was. He could see petrol pumping out of the engine bay, so he turned off the fuel pumps and alerted Soeprapto to the danger.
Helping him get free, Soeprapto managed to get himself out of the car before the petrol vapour ignited. Winslow and Soeprapto jumped clear and within seconds the whole car was ablaze. Without adequate fire fighting equipment, the marshals lets the car burn and within 20 minutes there was nothing left.
It wasn’t just fire where drivers saved a colleague’s life. At a champ car race at Milwaukee in 1948, Duke Dinsmore lost control, flipped the car and was thrown out unconscious in the middle of the track. Fellow racer Rex Mays saw what happened, stopped his car, pulled Mays to the side of the track and stood in front of him directing cars until he’ll arrived. The Milwaukee Mile champ car race was thereafter called the ‘Rex Mays Classic’.
Some drivers have an in- built desire to warn others of danger. This was perfectly demonstrated by Arnie Knepper at the 1969 Indianapolis 500. Competing in his fifth 500, Knepper crashed on the 87th lap. Given the risk of fire was so rife at the time, normal protocol for drivers of a crashed car was to get the hell out of there and leave the marshals to deal with the car. Realising the peril his crashed car was putting other drivers in, Knepper disregarded his own safety and stood up on the left rear wheel and side pod and frantically waved his arms at the approaching field doing over 180mph.
I wanted to finish with a Swiss driver called Claude Beat Fehr and a Formula Three race at Caserta, Italy in 1967. Fehr and a fellow driver Andrea Saltari crashed at a fast section, which was also blind corner. Behr then saw fellow driver, Franco Foresti, spin off on the oil which they had dropped and crash into a telegraph pole, breaking his leg.
Recognising the peril for the approaching drivers, Behr decided to run back down the track towards the blind corner, in order to warn the other drivers of the impending problem. This was incredibly brave by Behr, as not only was there oil down on the road, but there was debris strewn across the circuit. Behr put himself in the firing line in order to warn others.
Next onto the scene was Giacomo ‘Geki’ Russo who unfortunately hit the debris, spun and impacted hard into a wall. Poor Russo didn’t stand a chance and was killed instantly. Another eight cars then arrived at the corner, all of which also crashed.
In total three drivers lost their lives, Russo, Romano Perdomo who was part of the next group of cars, and unfortunately Behr. Ironically he was hit by one of the cars that he was trying to warn of the danger.
Behr was posthumously awarded with a Letter of Congratulations from the International Fairplay Committee for his actions. It’s important that we as motorsport fans remember people like Behr and the others that have either put their lives on the line for others or that remembered the true meaning of sport.
motorsportmuse 
I think that Al Jr. originally got up to flip the bird to Emmo, but reconsidered it at the last moment. I do believe that Al said as much later on?
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Very good article to read. Shows that some really classy drivers demonstrated great character.
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