I chose not to put this in the existing topic, in case any of you had heard about it and wished to have your minds put at rest. I will give my description of events. I do this not out of disrespect to Mr Stretton, but quite the opposite.

The annual RAC TT Celebration race for GT cars from 1960 to 1964 is the highlight of Goodwood's Revival Meeting. This year was hugely competitive and the race became punctuated by a safety car period, following Robs Lamplough's accident in the ex David Purley AC Cobra at Woodcote. At this stage Barrie Williams driving Jose Alberquerque's gorgeous Iso Bizzarini GT was making excellent progress through the field. He dived into the pits to hand over to Martin Stretton while the safety car was out; prudent tactics if ever I saw them.

Stretton, as many of you will know, is a fierce historic competitor. His exploits in a miscellany of beautiful cars have made him a crowd favourite; particularly his exuberent style at the wheel of Tyrrell P34 in Historic F1 races. Last weekend I saw him clean up in the Historic F2 races at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in the stunning BDA March 712.

He was sything through the field and looking a likely bet for an excellent position, perhaps even overall victory. The safety car meant, though, that he was in the pack and fighting through to the front. As he approached the first corner (safety car back in at this stage), he was baulked by a slower car, forcing off line and unable to get the car set up for the corner in the usual way. This being a big 1960s GT running treaded tyres, you need to pitch the car towards the apex on the throttle in a gentle drift, quite unlike anything you would see in contemporary racing. Unfortunately he was pinched into the corner and immediately his brakes locked. From that point on, he was a passenger, unable to take the corner he careered across the grass at unabated speed. Any of you who have visited, or seen footage of Goodwood, will be aware that the run-off areas are tiny when compared to a modern circuit. He would have been travelling at the best part of 100mph when the accident started. He hit the barriers next to the marshals' post at sickening speed. The car literally broke its back; both chassis and roof folding under themselves. A fire immediately broke out and it was clear to see that Mr Stretton was completely trapped.

At this point the marshals jumped to action and the fire was out almost as soon as it started. Poor Mr Stretton was still in the car, virtually motionless and with the whole front end of the car occupying the cockpit. At this stage I turned to my father, almost in tears and said that I didn't think he'd have any legs left. It was the most violent and terrifying accident I have witnessed in the flesh in almost 20 years of regular race-going. The marshals held sheets up as the medics attended to him. Any spectator will understand the feeling of dread when this occurs. He was given oxygen and saline while the car was literally cut apart around him. I didn't notice the time but I imagine the extracation must have lasted around an hour.

Eventually he was removed from the car and put in an ambulance. I was comforted to see on the stretcher that his legs looked intact. That was the last we heard on the incident and I was still shaking several hours later. We heard, though, on Goodwood radio as we left the circuit that he was stable and his worst injury appeared to be a broken elbow. I know this will be a relief to all of you who have witnessed him racing. I have no further news, but wish to praise the marshals and everyone involved at the scene, they did an amazing job.

I have one photo of the car following his removal which I don't wish to publish but if anyone wants to see it, I will email it to you. It is quite upsetting though. This serves as a reminder that motor racing is highly dangerous, but all drivers of these cars accept the risk as part of the fun. I pass my best wishes to Mr Stretton and hope he has a speedy recovery. If anyone hears anything further, please advise me, he is genuinely a hero to me and I'm very concerned.

From what I have read elsewhere, Martin has been released from hospital having sustained a broken elbow and severe bruising.

Having seen the state of the car this was extremely lucky.

Some pics can be found at:

http://www.pbase.com/steephill/revival2007

No doubt the car is a write-off, but from what Gilles was saying I imagined there was nothing left of it....!

Thanks for sending the link to the pics. Leaves me pretty cold though, especially following on from Andy Meyrick's horror shunt in practice at Oulton Park last weekend.

That was an awful accident, but looking at the photographs, Martin had the best people possible on scene - I know all the members of that Rescue Crew and believe me, they are good. I'm a little concerned that Gilles thought it took an hour to release Martin from his vehicle as all Rescue Crew are advised that they should aim at 35 minutes for any extrication with a maximum of 45 minutes to have the patient transferred to an ambulance.

Gilles, let me put your mind at rest over the situation with blankets, sheets, whatever. When a driver is trapped in a vehicle, whether injured or not, screens are used to prevent rubber neckers with long lenses taking unnecessary pictures. What you have to remember is that sometimes, especially in the case of injury, a driver may have to have his overalls cut and therefore the screens are used to preserve his/her dignity. After all, if it was you, you wouldn't like all and sundry seeing you clad only in a pair of holey Y-fronts would you? <roflmao>

Anyway, back to Martin. I'm glad to hear that he's not too badly hurt and hopefully will make a speedy recovery.

I suspect it probably was more like 45mins. Certainly they were obviously aiming to assess and stabilise him before making any proper attempt at removing him from the car. I understand the situation with the sheets, it's only fair on the driver.

I'm really very fond of Mr Stretton, as you might tell from my words so I emailed him and he got back to me, saying he's doing OK so that's great news. He says he wants to be back on track soon. I can't wait to see him racing again!

Martin is a lovely bloke. I've known him a good few years and seen him racing just about everything there is to race.

Hopefully he'll make a full recovery soon and then we can all enjoy the spectacle of him racing again. <thumbsup>

http://www.chichester.co.uk/chichester/Dri...rash.3168237.jp

thats all i could find mate

Reminds me of Syd Watkins' book. There's a pic of Olivier Panis being shovelled into the ambulance after his Canada crash with the lower half of his race suit cut apart so that the medics could assess the condition of his legs (both were broken). The caption states among other things, a message from Watkins saying something along the lines of "I apologise to Olivier for showing his underpants"

<roflmao>

Ah, the wonders of Shi-chester a place I know and, er, love...? lol

Actually, it's not *that* bad. However, I do have to go through there twice a week on the train......

I believe the Prof was there on Friday at the Revival, with his Ferrari 275GTB in the paddock. I was too scared to talk to him though! What a remarkable man.

I don't live there, its the only link on google to the story i could find ;)

On the earlier link to the pictures, there is one where you can see part of Stretton's legs and no obvious chassis / anything there as well. If you want to look, you can find it yourself through the earlier link but that's your own choice. Looking at the pictures, a broken elbow really isn't too bad considering the impact involved etc.

As WW said, blankets and stuff are the norm so nothing to worry about.

I've met Sid Watkins as had to write a piece on his lecture at the Autosport show this year - great guy.

<think> Looking at the pics,I was wondering if it had a 'full' rollcage,considering how the roof collapsed ?

I would have to think not?

Without consulting the blue book, is it a requirement for all cars that race [must admit I've presumed it is] or are there different rules for historics? I know historics have different rules in some areas, eg numbers etc.

The roof folded completely and then was cut open, with no obvious signs of a rollcage. I'm not terribly au fait with the rules regarding these measures but I don't think they can be mandatory in the same way as contemporary vehicles. A good example being the difference between Sir Anthony Bamford's ASton DBR2 with a full rollcage and the DBR1s or Adrian Beecroft, Tim Samways, etc which run completely without. I can only presume it's discretionary...

From the angle we were stood at, it was impossible to tell what damage Mr Stretton had sustained. It looked as if his legs would have been completely crushed, especially given the speed the car hit the barriers.

Anyway, great to hear he's doing well. I'm sure lessons will be learned and at least the outcome is much better than that for poor Willie Green a few years ago.

I'm not too sure on the regulations either,I've seen plenty racing with rollcages,without,partial,etc,etc
Even no requirement for safety belts on the older stuff <unsure>
<think> Wonder what the outcome on a 'modern' car have been like ?

Historics are allowed to run in their orginal state (i.e. without seat belts, roll cages etc). The fitting of safety devices is therefore optional.

This includes Stirling Moss too I believe.

Indeed I believe it does ;)

It does indeed! He even still wears that old helmet! <yikes>

Yeah he has special dispensation to wear that from the MSA. No other driver has that "privilege" apparently. I very much approve of the HANS device, I think it looks excellent, although I don't know if it's mandatory to wear it for club events. I suspect not. Can anyone help me out there...?

HANS devices are not mandatory for "Club" events but more and more drivers are starting to realise their value over the high cost of buying them.

It's not so much of a priviledge, it's a disclaimer that if wearing the period items contributes to any issue, that the race organisers and insurance companies cannot subsequently become liable or prosecuted.

I have heard of this for one or two other drivers as well, but Stirling is the most famous and obvious example of this.

But to move to the other point of the HANS device and helmets, it's a case of how much do you value your life. The rules and regulations set out the minimum amount of cover/equipment you must have, after that it's a case of how much money you have and whether you go cheap or pay more for better protection.