paul-s

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/japancrash1.html

Jap2Scrap

Holy ****!

Patt@firstime

S I A L

I think

Scary every time you watch it

OllyK

Would somebody please let SurfControl know that the "big-boys" website is not a **** site consiting of well endowed gentlemen.

PG

Aye ! from the first car perhaps !!

Jap2Scrap

Yeah, must admit I did notice a distinct absence of 'bloke walking away' from the second motor

Chip Sengravy

This was posted a while back, the jap driver in the red car survived I think, but with horrific burns, and there was some kind of enqury as tp why he was left so long in the car

Apparition

Flaming hell ! Bad conditions for a race anyways.

Iwan

There's another vid floating about from when he was pulled from the car and left lying on the ground (still smoking) in agony. His helmet was melted onto his head and he suffered severe burns, but he did make a full recovery other than some pretty horrific looking scars.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Fekkin hell. I'd only seen the start of the fireball previously. Had no idea that the other chap was left in the car to burn

Nicks VR4

A racing car driver whose career ended with a sickening crash five years ago Wednesday was awarded 90 million yen compensation after the Tokyo District Court ruled race organizers were to blame for his crippling accident.

"I still love car racing," Ota said after the ruling.

Tetsuya Ota fell well short of getting the 300 million he had been asking from the five organizers and the marshal of the 1998 race where he suffered severe burns that ruined his driving career, but received the vindication he had been looking for.

"The crash was caused when the flag car suddenly slowed down," Presiding Judge Tsuyoshi Ono said. "Firefighting and rescue preparations were also not up to scratch."

Ota was delighted with the court win. "I would like to thank everybody who has supported me along the way," the 43-year-old once referred to as Japan's best Ferrari handler said in the wake of the ruling.

Those ordered to pay Ota include Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the horrifying crash occurred, and TV Tokyo, which broadcast the race.

None of the defendants have stated whether they will appeal against the ruling, including TV Tokyo, which spent the entirety of the court battle arguing that it could not be regarded as one of the race organizers.

Court records said Ota's terrifying crash occurred during a warm-up lap before the official start of the race in May 1998. Ota's car burst into flames after slamming into another vehicle that had already stopped because of a different accident.

Ota was stuck in the fireball for almost 90 seconds before rescuers finally dragged him out. He sustained burns across his body and is still unable to move his right arm, right shoulder and fingers properly.

Judges ruled the flag car should have been traveling at about 60 kilometers per hour instead of the 150 kilometers it was doing, and caused the accident by slowing too quickly. Ota was forced to unexpectedly drop his pace and, as a result, he lost control and smash into the stationary vehicle.

They also decided that Ota was left in his flaming vehicle for too long and organizers had neglected their responsibility to get him out of the burning car within 30 seconds of the blaze erupting.

A pre-race agreement between Ota and the organizers not to pursue legal action in the event of an accident was also dismissed as unacceptable.

"A letter that tries to eliminate one party from taking any responsibility for major accidents caused by gross negligence is incorrect, unfair and not void in this court," presiding judge Ono said.

TV Tokyo's attempt to avoid being regarded as one of the race organizers was dismissed by the court, which ruled it was involved in sufficient decisions made about the race to be viewed as one of the organizations directly concerned with running it.

Jap2Scrap

What's 90 million Yen? About £20?

CooperS

£40 odd grand

Spoon

It was indeed posted up not too long ago and somebody also posted a link to the "aftermath". I have both on my pc and can honestly say it's amongst the most disturbing clips I've seen.

The guy was largely left to himself, the medical attention was non-existent as he tried to stand. His helmet was melted to his face. The guy was totally and obviously dis-orientated.

I've just tried to watch it again and got 5 secs into it before I turned it off.

Horrific, truly horrific.

Glad he made it through though.

astraboy

fuking hardcore man....