Jochen Rindt Fatal Crash 1970

[Artoir]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mze8qk7sN2o
The same car won him the championship that year and he had written this to the car's designer Colin Chapman

Honestly your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds used to make the weakest parts stronger... I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence, and I feel the point of no confidence is quite near.

Chapman had written previously;

1. A racing car has only ONE objective: to WIN motor races. If it does not do this it is nothing but a waste of time, money, and effort.
This may sound obvious but remember it does not matter how clever it is, or how inexpensive, or how easy to maintain, or even how safe, if it does not consistantly win it is NOTHING!
2. Having established this what do we have to do to make it win:
(i) Simply stated it must firstly be capable of lapping a racing circuit quicker than any other car, with the least possible skill from the driver, and doing it long enough to finish the race.
(ii) After this, and only after this, and with absolutely no compromising of objective (2)(i) one has to consider how expensive it is, how simple, how safe, & how easy to maintain, etc. NONE of these aspects must detract one iota from (2)(i). “Good enough” is just NOT good enough to win and keep winning.

 

[Dan.86]

very errie watching these types of videos but almost feel compelled sometimes to see the fate some legendary racing drivers. Keith Odor's crash is one to look at too.

 

[davecoupe]

The lack of thought for life was unbelieveable in those days....many think that Rindt's car suffered the same steering failure at Parabolica, as the failure that killed Roger Clark in a Lotus 2 years earlier at the Hockenhiemring. Both were blamed on deflating tyres by Colin Chapman.

 

[CarbonKa]

Chapmans' attitude to his drivers safety was shocking. I think it was Surtees who refused to race for him because 'he killed drivers'. there was a story of a firewall being made from card and painted with aluminium paint at one point too....

Rindt was using a non-standard harness at the time of his death as well, which apparently didn't help. Disgrace that his body was just left on the back of a pick up truck, barely covered.