to be fair it is really difficult to stop cars that are going like what 200+ mph? plus im pretty sure the race was canceled shortly after when the cars were stopped
@@JustJoshIsUnavailable unless someone instructs all of the racers one by one to slow down from last to first in an orderly fashion then that ain't happening
I was there the day that it happened. I was a track marshal (17yrs old) back then at WPMC (Western Province Motor Club in Cape Town) and traveled to Kyalami in Johannesburg to experience my first live GP. What a tragedy and a complete F-up by the marshals (with absolute respect to Mr. Jansen Van Vuuren) There were many outside factors that lead to this tragedy which many folks overlook simply blaming Van Vuuren. A truly sad day in history.
it seems unnecessarily cruel to blame a 17 year old for something like this. Even if you knew nothing about the situation and just watch it (like i did) there are 4 people involved coming together at all the wrong times. Saw someone try to blame him because of the fire extinguisher.
i feel very bad for that 19 year old kid and his father... if you are in the game of racedriving, possible death is part of the deal and all racers willingly acknowledge that... but kid was probably just a fan of F1 wanting to be close to his heroes,working as a marhall at will and without pay...wanted to prove himself in doing his job well and extinguishing invisible methanol fire (visible through refraction of air in the video) and he died in pieces along with one driver in a most gruesome racing accident ever... sad sad day for everyone...
travis estes You're looking at something wrong... Maybe You didn't see the footage that actually shows hitting the guy. Or don't know what gruesome means. 1955 le mans was just a pile of bodies. Nothing particulary graphic.
" i feel very bad for that 19 year old kid and his father" You mean his *parents* . Or are you implying his *mother* won't feel serious pain and sorrow from having lost the child she carried in her womb? You do realize that all people are created from 23 chromosomes from *each* parent? Next time include both parents' sorrow.
I've read here on CZcams some folks laying blame on the poor 19 year old Van Vuuren for running across the track to put out the fire. Remember, he was a junior Marshal - his senior, the man he looked to for instructions and guidance, took off across the track first. Van Vuuren, a rookie volunteer race Marshal joined him carrying the heavy extinguisher. He was running on the older man's right hand side, opposite the oncoming vehicles, unseen by them because of the slight rise. Remember, Van Vuuren was following the older race Marshal. He assumed, quite wrongly, that the older, more experienced Marshal had a clear run or else such an experienced race hand wouldn't dare cross a active track. If you consider this, you can understand why the young, inexperienced Marshal just wanted to do his best and help put out a fire (and maybe save a life - they didn't know if Zorzi, whose car burst into flames, was himself burning or not). The young Marshal's enthusiasm in following the more experienced Marshal cost him his life and the life of Tom Pryce. If you ask me, I think the older Marshal was far more reckless than the rookie Van Vuuren, who was inexperienced and following his superior to aid the driver at an accident (which was their job). Terrible tragedy.
When you cross any kind of road, you don't rely on someone else, regardless of who he is. People always make mistakes, if you see the other crossing, you should not follow him, terrible accidents happened that way. You always have to make sure that a car is not approaching, and then you can cross the road, don't ever rely on someone else for that. And this applies to Jansen Van Vuuren as well
humbleradio...the marshall was not to blame, he saw the cars coming but what caught him and pryce was just that pryce was slipstream and could not see them and they cant see him. when he got out of that slipstreams thats when this tragedy happened
Forgotten Mustart - not in teams. In teams you work together. (Though I do think a quick check would've been good) People need to be following their superiors, else teamwork to this fashion is not possible. This is especially true in the pitstop area - during tyre changing, when one guy has finished his tyre, you don't go check that it's on correctly, you trust that he did it.
Forgotten Mustard That is not how people operate or behave. Suggesting that it is entirely the case is foolish and arrogantly ignores how accidents happen involving groups of people.
@wargolemx102: I agree with you that the guy did the right thing and was using his brain. I was coming at it more from an amazement that he was able to think straight and do the right thing after witnessing that traumatic event!
R.I.P. Renzo Zorzi. (1946-2015) Such a shame he is best remembered as the one that inadvertently caused the death of Tom Pryce and Frederick Jansen Van Vuuren (the marshal). He naturally wasn't to blame at all but just set an unfortunate chain of events in motion.
Před 8 lety+12
+McLarenMercedes i think is Renzo never ever seen that before
It was protocol at the time that two fire marshals were to go out and deal with a situation like this. Thing was, Pryce was right behind someone and before the accident. As the guy in front moved a bit to avoid both men, Pryce couldn’t see Van Vuuren. As a result, he couldn’t get out of the way in time and he hit him, which in doing so, got himself killed due to the 40 pound fire extinguisher Van Vuuren had. It was just a freak series of events that lead to the deaths of two people. No one is to blame.
Van Vuuren was blamed since he had to make sure no car was coming over the hill. Stuck could avoid him but Pryce not. Fire was very dangerous back then so they had to get to the car. But they disregarded their own safety instructions (they were instructed to have one marshall giving hand signals if the track is clear). Since Van Vuuren was killed, there were no charges and he was not openly blamed because his horrible death was already too much for family and friends. But internally, he was given the scapegoat card.
For all those who haven't looked at all the videos... The 'debris' is corner marshal Van Vuuren. He ran across the track carrying a fire bottle (extinguisher). What you don't see in this video but can see in others of this incident, is that when Van Vuuren gets hit at speed, his legs are ripped apart, but the fire bottle hits the driver Tom Pryce square in the head. It partially decapitates Tom, who's car continues on straight down the track at speed until it collides with another car.
I am not so sure about the marshal . I can't find the article at the moment but a doctor who worked as part of the US air crash investigation department said seeing as his spinal cord was still in tact he was probably alive for 5- 10 seconds afterwards . Grusome stuff
The racer (tom pryce) who ran over the Marshall also died because the Marshall he ran over was holding an extinguisher which went through his window and broke his neck. Two people died in this video
It’s so sad, it’s very tragic. I also think about if he would’ve lived, what kind of grief and guilt he would’ve felt. I know there was not a thing he could do, but knowing their life was taken by your own car. I can’t even imagine….
Wait can you explain this whole situation? It stil confuses me. What happened with the car in the first place and why did the person with the fire extinguisher scare him and why did the person look so jumpy ? I know nothing about racing so bear with me and I just found out about this event today …
@@millardfilmore1403 the car was set on fire during the race (normal thing), so a senior marshal (the guy who came to help) and a junior marshal ( a 19 year old boy) came with fire extinguishers to put out the fire. The senior marshal crossed the road, so the junior one followed him but got hit by a racer, and the fire extinguisher that was in his hand flew and hit the racer in the head almost cutting his head off, so both the racer and the junior marshal died. The reason why the racer that was on the side was so jumpy because he stared at the remains of the dead junior marshal and was scared. You can see the remains of the dead body of the junior marshal fly across the screen, and the racer that hit the marshal towards the end of the vid.
You should really see the other angle you can find it somewhere and you can see the entire thing happen... two of them were running with fire extinguishers and one got fought by a car
It's just unbearable watching the start of this clip - Zorzi trying to pull out what I understand was the oxygen line into his helmet - knowing that the great gentleman Tom Pryce is only seconds away from the most ridiculously unnecessary death in F1 history. Even today people remember him with immense affection, and of course he was so brilliant. In the early practice, in the rain, before this GP, he had been outstanding - way ahead of Lauda, Peterson, Hunt etc. He was certainly as good as James. It wouldn't be fair to say better, but as good - definitely. NO blame either for Zorzi, he apparently just couldn't get the hang of the simple release mechanism for the line, and of course when he saw the sudden (brief, but he wasn't to know that) flames around him, all he wanted to do was get out and away, which was absolutely understandable. And as for the poor marshals, they were amateurs who saw a fire and simply went to help. The blame lies with those organisers who evidently failed to make those marshals understand how fast those cars were coming at them on that straight, especially since they had just emerged from a dip when Tom hit that marshal. But to this day I think of this - Tom was driving beautifully, in control as always, and, within less than a second, he died - just like that. Unbelievable.
For the people asking why didn't they notice the guy or why they weren't frightened all I have to say is that the body was probably so torn up and mangled beyond recognition. They probably just thought there was a part that fell off a passing car. You can actually see the dude look up and pause and look at his mangled friend and then look behind him to see if that was actually him just behind. He probably came to the conclusion that he really just stopped running and went somewhere else. Or there's the possibility that they knew what happened and that they had a job to do which is something that I really don't believe.
I mean even if they recognised it was a body, what were they really supposed to do? For one, something as gruesome as that just happening in front of you would very easily be something your mind wouldn’t fully comprehend all that quickly, especially if you didn’t see the full incident happen. And secondly, what were either of them meant to do for the kid? He was quite literally splattered and very clearly dead, and so going over to check on him rather than preventing a fire, while it sounds harsh, would be pointless.
If you watch the crash from the rear angle, you'll see that the second marshall getting hit would have been behind the first marshall's blind spot, and Zorzi would have been too preoccupied with the fire to notice what's happening (and the crash was at such speed that he probably didn't know at first what was the white thing flying was). The body travelled a fair distance and was so mangled that as you said, they probably thought it was debris.
@@ciaranwalsh96 yeah if I was a marshal rushing to a broken down car I would immediately think there would be debris around where the car broke down but honestly the race car was probably going over an excess of 160 mph when he hit the Marshall it was probably another fact that the body traveled so far into the distance that when the marshal was hit he quite literally disintegrated on impact and flew. Pretty Gruesome to think about
We see them both looking at the direction of the debis and the body. But imagine the reality, it happened so quick thay they could not comprehend what is happening. They saw that there was a crash and look very stessed. Their reaction of stress was to just do their job. The marshal put out the fire and the driver assisting somehow. It will be interesting what happened after the video. Maybe then they realized what happent and went to the body, or went away because of the stress. And durind this video Tom Prices car was still traveling down the straight. I feel shocked even at this moment...
Jansen van Vuuren's (the poor marshal) injuries were so extensive that, initially, his body was identified only after the race director had summoned all of the race marshals the next day and he was not among them. Pryce's death was brutal too. The impact with the 40-pound fire extinguisher wrenched Pryce's helmet upward sharply. It's almost certainly an instant death for him. RIP to both of them💔
I was there that day, on the bridge with a TV camera crew, looking down when the accident happened. I can recount it in slow motion. Something I never wanted to see, and will remember it for the rest of my life.
Same thing almost happened at Monaco GP last year when a couple of marshals ran across the track in front of Sergio Perez but luckily he managed to avoid both of them. Very scary for all involved
@@happigappi3618 He has a point. Racing and Formula 1 especially in it's early years was a game of daredevils and challengers. Safety precautions were cut back, procedures made in the 40s was still in use, and deaths were barely looked back upon for improvements on driver and trackside safety. All in search of performance and victory
Not even close much more people died in the 50's. It was a revolving door with drivers being replaced all the time due to deaths. They didn't even have rudimentary safety gear like helmets or seatbelts and when they eventually adopted helmets they were open and they didn't even cover your face . 70's was very dangerous compared to modern f1 but compared to 50's or 60's f1 it doesn't even come close.
@@ryanwatterson4038 He was a successful driver because many other drivers of the time were fearful of getting hit with the spanner. They gave him a wide berth which allowed him an easier ride.
I first saw a video of this from a different angle. I’d heard of the accident but didn’t really know what it was. The impact caught me so off guard, especially how violently the boy flipped in the air. I can’t imagine what the two people saw when it happened right next to them.
"The situation caused two marshals from the pit wall on the opposite side of track to intervene. The first marshal to cross the track was a 25-year-old panel beater named William." The other marshal is not the kids father like some claim here.
Decapitated by the fire extinguisher that the track Marshall was carrying. At least it was instantaneous for both of them. May the racetracks in the sky always have fast chicanes and wide open straights. RIP to both.
iambiggus “nearly” decapitated. The helmet tore into everything but the spine, so the head didn’t dislodge, but yeah, he died instantly probably just from the impact alone
Very true. What further contributed to this unfortunate event is that the scene in this clip happened on the summit of a slight rise after The Kink before you get the main stretch of the straight in front of the pits. With the speed the cars come out the Kink and then climb a 'blind spot' caught the unfortunate marshal unawares. R.I.P. both Tom Pryce and the marshal.
Motorsport has come a long way in terms of safety since these times. I mean look at how many lives the halo has saved. Every time I see this, I’m just horrified. Seeing someone get hit at that speed and sent flying. It’s so gruesome to watch. I feel like at another angle you can see his blood going everywhere. And to think that he was only 19 and his older brother (who was also a martial and was there according to a news article) witness the death of his younger brother and saw his lifeless body. Though this was more than 40 years ago, I bet he’s still traumatized and probably gets really paranoid when crossing a street.
I remember this clearly. I lived near Kyalami as a young kid and I remember this being on the news. I believe I read somewhere he was carrying the heavier extinguisher which slowed him down....but I’m willing to be corrected.
he was so mangled and in so many different pieces that they only identified him by being absent from the staff at the end of the race. RIP both guys but they died instantly.
FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GET IT READ CAREFULLY: 1.) The race car driver you see here is NOT Tom Pryce, it's Renzo Zorzi, the unwitting catalyst for this whole mishap. This paticular video does not show price himself (except the end). 2.) On THIS video, Zorzi's having car issues. Off camera, two guys, the marshals, weilding fire extinguishers, are running to the scene. Van Vurren, running right behind the guy seen putting out Zorzi's car fire. 3.) That stuff that flies in the lower left (cont)....
@@grist2001 ohhhh, u see, you’ve just started a war with all the f1 fans, their all gonna say your disrespectful and that, but I won’t that’s just a good joke
Watching 1970s clips of f1 is always terrifying. Idk how they didn't consider raising the safety standards at the time. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "In hindsight, it was obvious."
You read the auto biography of Sir Jacky Stewart and you see there was a cohort of people who were fighting tooth and nail to improve the safety of the sport. A part of the resistance was money. F1 wasn't yet the big money sport it is today. Part of it also seemed to be an acceptance of the danger by many. Don't forget that a lot of people involved in the sport had come through World War 2, and young mens fiery deaths wasn't an unusual thing to them.
@@bacilluscereus1299 yes, he was, you can find the video with a better angle where you can clearly see it happen, but I don’t recommend watching it, it’s very graphic.
There is another camera angle of this accident and you can see it better, its horrific. With the impact his trousers went off and it looked like he was torn in half, but there are pictures of him in the ground after the accident and it shows him in one piece.
When i was 15 i went to a drag/funnt car event in Union Grove WI wherein a car exploded and sheet metal flew into audience. A woman was decapitated 20 yards from where i sat. I can still hear the howling of the children. Im glad these things are much safer nowadaze
I witnessed a similar incident when I was about 12. A wheel came of a stock car and flew into the crowd, ironically it hit the St John ambulance people. I remember that a least one person was killed and several others were seriously injured.
The marshall who was hit was an inexperienced 19 year-old called Jansen Van Vuuren, who only ran across the track because track rules stipulated that marshalls had to work in pairs. He was so badly mutilated that it was only after a rollcall at the end of the race that they knew who was killed. The fire extinguisher that he was carrying hit Pryce full in the face with such force that it ricocheted over the grandstand, taking off Pryce's helmet and jaw bone.
I think most people know the story regarding how Tom Pryce was killed. The important thing is that the incident shows how crucial the good training and organisation of marshals is. Massively improved after unnecessary incidents like this one.
I was still a young man and it was a very tragic moment and accident. At first it looked as if he lost control over his car but he went straight into the safety fence without reaction. One of my friends said he have collided with one of the safety officials at Dunlop bridge and was hid by a fire extinguisher. Till today that accident still unfolded itself in front of my eyes. For years after the accident when we visited the track, we spoke about the accident. As i can remember the the official that was killed name was Frederick
the helper was torn apart by tom pryce over 270 kph, turned into millions of pieces of meat, and the extinguisher hit tom pryce's helmet, and the helmet came off with the speed and a lot of wind in his face, kept him from driving, and eventually lost control and hit the wall violently, his face swelled up so much, and had head trauma
@@rafaelsevero5891 you greatly misunderstood the wreck, it’s well documented so I advise you read up on it. Vuuren was killed instantly but his body didn’t explode on impact, he was almost cut in half and he had been largely intact otherwise. Pryce was partially decapitated when the extinguisher hit because of his strap and his spine had broken from his skull resulting in also instant death but the car remained at speed and hit the barrier 2km down from where he hit vuuren
@Blaize - H1Z1/CS you are right but a lot of his abdomen was largely damaged too, I’m not saying it’s as bad as what others are saying where it was intestine holding him together but there was still a lot of damage
"Tengo miedo de la muerte, pero no tanto por mí sino por los seres queridos que dejaría" Tom Pryce "No hay nada que festejar porque murieron dos personas" Niki Lauda, después del Gran Premio de Sudáfrica 1977 Saludos desde Venezuela ¡Descansa En Paz, Tom! "I am afraid of death, but not so much for myself but for the loved ones I would leave" Tom Pryce "There is nothing to celebrate because two people died" Niki Lauda, after the 1977 South African Grand Prix Greetings from Venezuela Rest In Peace, Tom!
"Car racing always will be dangerous" Sir Jackie Stewart (1939 - ) Retired Formula 1 driver. World Champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973. Greetings from Venezuela.
I'm pretty sure their brains temporarily sorta shut down for a while, considering the absolute brutality they had just witnessed. I'm sure they were pretty traumatized.
Hard to know who to feel worse for. =( This is probably two of the most gruesome deaths in motorsports. Definitely makes you appreciate the dangers of auto racing - something so small and trivial can rip your head off at 200 MPH. And...something coming at you at that speed is going to tear you to shreds. =( What makes it particularly tragic is that neither death had to happen. It was a mistake to send the crew out so soon. Nowadays, they're a lot more careful.
i think the crew shouldn’t go out there at all. those cars whip around that track so fast. and this should have been a lesson for no one to run across a track when a race is occurring. there should be rules that the race has to restart if something is wrong with a racers car that can’t be quickly fixed and at their pit stop. or that the racer should get away from their vehicle and wait until the race is finished.
The marshal who survived may not even have known that Van Vuuren had followed him. The first marshal himself escaped death by inches and the noise would have been deafening, not to mention a stationary car that might burst into flames at any moment. Later footage shows him start walking towards his fallen colleague, only to turn abruptly when he realises what is lying there. The crowd who had rushed to the fence are also walking away en masse from the scene.
I remember seeing footage of stuck jumping out of his car, throwing himself over the barrier and vomiting when Petersen was killed in a fireball right in front of him.... When men were men and racing was downright brutal. RIP
Shocking, the way the marshall flies through the air is unbelieveably scary. RIP Jansen Van Vurren RIP Tom Pryce (a potential future world champion back in those days)
I was there the day it happened, sitting at Crowthrone at the end of the main straight. We never saw the impact but Pryce's car landed up about 30 feet from where we were sitting and there appeared to be no one in the cockpit. For those in the stands it was not apparent what had happened, it just appeared to be a mechanical failure of some sort. The Marshalls name was Frederick Janse VanVuuren.
I was also sitting at Crowthorne corner. It was my first GP and we could see right back up the long straight. The guy to my left said he thought he saw a fire up near the pits. He asked me to pass the binoculars to him. As I was doing this I noticed a car on the right side of the track crashing into the braking markers and not slowing down. It was coming straight for us. I was paralyzed and could not move as we were in a packed bleachers with no space to move. When Tom Pryce's car struck the wall, there was a tremendous thud and the whole ground shook. A piece of flying debris (a 8 cm piece of fiberglass) hit the guy behind me. When Tom Pryce was carried in a stretcher across the track towards the helicopter, his one arm dropped down from the stretcher and it looked very lifeless. I remember it was full of blood. It was very upsetting, especially that we heard over the radio that Tom Pryce had not made it, even before the end of the GP. Only when we were watching the evening news on TV, did we find out the whole incident with the Marshall and the fire extinguisher.
@@christopherknee5756 yes they took their lives in their hands running across the track. the guy who made it missed being hit by the car running in front of Pryce by a whisker.
I hadn't even seen this horrific episode. It encapsulates the craziness of F1 in these years when the disregard for life and safety was just incredible 😢
He was in a state of shock, you can clearly see this in the video when he looks over and realises what has happened. Shock does funny things to people, seeing someone seem like they are quite calm is much more common than seeing someone run around in a screaming panic.
***** I don't get why people often believe that being in a state of shock has the effects you describe. I'm pretty certain they knew exactly what it was that had happened. Which is exactly why they looked at the body of that poor young man and continued on with the car. They knew that he was dead, and so trying to help him would've been moronic.
Lucius Cornelius Macro what would you do? it was apparent he was instantly killed and making sure the stranded car is safe was more important, as harsh as it may sound.
Certainly the most violent accident in the history of F1. The most violent in the history of Nascar is the fatal accident of Russell Phillips, racing in the Sportsman Division, in 1995 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His car got hit by another driver when coming out of turn 4, he crashed roof first towards the catch fence which caused his roof to collapse, and also hitting the caution light that dismembered his hand and head.
Such a real shame Tom was an up and coming star. Fantastic driver and natural talent. The driver who took his place in that car was Alan Jones. And he got noticed by Frank Williams who gave him his drive in the car who got him his first title. Just think it could have been Tom who got noticed if he had lived.
0:28 you can see the body of Track Marshall Jansen Van Vuuren 19 years old fly across the track. He ran across the track with Bill Vuuren both did so without permission and Bill almost got hit but Van was hit by Tom Pryce. You can see the racer in white, Zorzi, look over at the body flying across the track. The fire extinguisher Van Vuuren was holding hit Tom Pryce in the head at 170 mph and his helmet strap practically decapitated him, Tom died instantly and his car kept going. Two gruesome deaths all caused by lack of safety and common sense. I know Zorzi was on fire (alcohol burns clear so you can't see it all on camera but he's on fire) and they wanted to put him out but cars going 200mph are not easy to dodge. Should have at least waited till the cars past... or maybe Zorzi should have gotten away from his car while it was on fire. Maybe they thought Zorzi's car was going to blow up and Zorzi not being smart enough to get away from it was in danger.
jesus christ, the two marshalls were father and son?? that's truly a tragedy.....a son and a young talented driver lost...but you can't blame that on zorzi, he surely didn't want to harm anyone
Penitten Bill was only 25... and The kid who died was 19.... so unless Bill fathered him at 6 years old... they werent father and son... or is that actually the case... I never heard they were father and son... did u see the video with the other angle... where u see the kid split in half?
I don't think they comprehended what actually happened. Neither guy actually saw the moment of collision. They looked up after most of anything recognizable as human had already been spun into oblivion. All they saw was a single car crashing and debris.
Is it just me or the driver just didn't even react to the marshall getting obliterated in front of him. Like he looked briefly in that direction and that's it. It is like: oh look there's a man flying in pieces, then continue on doing whatever he was doing.
I accidentaly came acros this video as an 8 year old and i was horrified. ive yet to watch it 5 years later. Poor kid who got killed and the driver RIP
From what I have read about the accident over many years is that the young marshall was not torn apart as some people are describing. What you can see in the video are his clothes being thrown off by the speed of the rotation of his body.
indeed, he wasn't torn apart, but his clothes were. Then fire extinguisher did hit Pryce head, causing his helmet to torn off and strap cut his throat and major arteries. That is why his car was covered with blood. Probably suffered major brain injury as well.
At least it was quick, poor bastards probably didn't know what hit either of them. The two survivors kept looking over there in a nervious way, they probably figured that the worker must have somehow gone somewhere else and couldn't quite believe that what was left laying on the track had once been him.
It’s crazy how the driver and marshal was so focused on his car that they just glanced at the kid after being hit as if it might not have been that serious
That year three months later my uncle died after sustaining lacerations to his neck in a car crash days after graduating high school, I might be misinformed but another racer here died in a plane accident two weeks after the race. March 6th a day and four years later 8 teenaged people in a cordoba flew off a road and all died gruesomely near where I live in '81,... I'm spooked Not to mention the driver in front of Pryce was named "Struck" and the advert he passes on the wall says "look out for.. the citizen" and fredrick was then struck and killed
@@MrChristopherHaas that's true. The coincidences of racing at this time including my family and my area had me in a weird mindset. Smoking too much I suppose but thankfully so regulations are safer. Theres no "see your life before you die" for the victim in this race. Doubt he saw it let alone expected it to swerve for him. 200 plus is to fast for alot of people with no scenarios like this. And thank you for your kind words!
@31 sec, worker tries to run across track w/ fire extinguisher, then is hit by another car at full speed; worker killed after being hit, the driver of that speeding car was hit in the face by the fire extinguisher, also died
Always though this was the most horrific dead crash in F1 history. Then I found out how the Francois Cevert's accident was like and under what conditions did Jody Scheckter (first man on the scene) found Cevert's corpse.
I am puzzled. I have read some reports, and they all say Pryce was killed by a fire extinguisher, right during the crash. So who is getting out of the car and where is the track marshal before he is carried away.
Actually almost nothing of the victim is seen in this. I was watching the race live here in South Africa on TV. The TV cameras caught the event from a different angle but from a further distance. Clearly it was a dreadful accident and the track marshall did not have a chance, being hit at the speed involved. Very nasty indeed.
As I recall it his name (the marshall carrying the extinguisher) was Janni Van Vuuren, and parts of his severed/dismembered body splash across the lower part of the video at @ 1:17. The fire extinguisher he had been trying to haul across the track hit Tom Pryce in the face an a mere blink-of-an-eye after Van Vuurens body was chopped all to hell (by the front end and wing of Pryce's car). Pryce must have been instantly killed, too, at the speed he was traveling--roughly 150 MPH at that point on the track. If I also recall correctly the driver of #17 was Renzo Zorzi, and, as you can see, the fire in his car was pretty minor. So...two dead to put out a fire not much larger than a pack or box of cigarettes. Of course Grand Prix racing in those days didn't often get it right when a conflagration was major either, such as Roger Williamson burning to death in his overturned car at Zandvoort in 1973 when only David Purley tried to save him...and rest continued lapping. Also, but for Purley's efforts, about as meaningless as promoting a particular brand of cigarettes.
Man it looked like they both sort of caught a glimpse of the impact, but didn't really process what they were seeing at first... You can even see the driver do a sort of stunned double take at 00:31 in the video. I've gotta wonder what was going through the surviving track worker's head after he turned around and the guy who was right behind him was just gone.
Yes, I think at one moment he was in the path where the later crash debris spread, but he saw the car is not in flames and returned to it for some reason
Seeing this clip from another angle and at 0.25 speed. The young man had NO chance :((. Whether it be how fast the car came at him and ZERO time to react in any way or be it how badly he got mangled. Tom from what I hear from how he sustained his injuries had no chance either unfortunately. I'm so glad they've changed so much about stockcar racing to help protect marshals or drivers.
This crash, in my mind, goes down as one of the most gruesome in racing history. Racing should never involve blood and guts. Ever.
Le Mans 55?
@@BarackObama-to3ht ^
@@BarackObama-to3ht but the grainy footage hides alot. theres a worse view of this from behind and you watch him explode
Maybe golfing is more your speed bud
Idk Le Mans 55 killed like 170 man wome and children
I bet you the cameraman noticed but was told specifically not to look down.
+xandon24 To avoid showing the giblets?
+xandon24 You may be right, but you can still see the whole thing, taken from another angle.
+xandon24 Most definitely, if he wanted to he would've done so. He was probably told not to point the camera down
If only it had been roomed out a little more.
I supppose the cameraman just did not notice that something weird happened.
Even after the two men died, the race was still going. I'm glad F1 has changed for the better with regard to safety.
The race was still going but didn’t it get canceled shortly after?
to be fair it is really difficult to stop cars that are going like what 200+ mph? plus im pretty sure the race was canceled shortly after when the cars were stopped
@@JustJoshIsUnavailableCan't. If one of the drivers in front slows down suddenly then it would cause a crash pile.
@@coo1gam3r49 Think coo1gam3r49 think! They slow down from last to first and no crashes occur.
@@JustJoshIsUnavailable unless someone instructs all of the racers one by one to slow down from last to first in an orderly fashion then that ain't happening
I was there the day that it happened. I was a track marshal (17yrs old) back then at WPMC (Western Province Motor Club in Cape Town) and traveled to Kyalami in Johannesburg to experience my first live GP. What a tragedy and a complete F-up by the marshals (with absolute respect to Mr. Jansen Van Vuuren) There were many outside factors that lead to this tragedy which many folks overlook simply blaming Van Vuuren. A truly sad day in history.
it seems unnecessarily cruel to blame a 17 year old for something like this. Even if you knew nothing about the situation and just watch it (like i did) there are 4 people involved coming together at all the wrong times. Saw someone try to blame him because of the fire extinguisher.
Proof
@@adenmitchell7633 shut up
@@adenmitchell7633 what the fuck do you expect as proof
your 72!?
i feel very bad for that 19 year old kid and his father... if you are in the game of racedriving, possible death is part of the deal and all racers willingly acknowledge that... but kid was probably just a fan of F1 wanting to be close to his heroes,working as a marhall at will and without pay...wanted to prove himself in doing his job well and extinguishing invisible methanol fire (visible through refraction of air in the video) and he died in pieces along with one driver in a most gruesome racing accident ever...
sad sad day for everyone...
You drunk? They never used methanol in F1...
its not the most gruesome gorden smiles and the 1955 la mas crash was
travis estes
You're looking at something wrong... Maybe You didn't see the footage that actually shows hitting the guy. Or don't know what gruesome means.
1955 le mans was just a pile of bodies. Nothing particulary graphic.
well 84 dead bodies every where and a guy who is burred all to hell plus what about gorden smilleys crash
" i feel very bad for that 19 year old kid and his father"
You mean his *parents* . Or are you implying his *mother* won't feel serious pain and sorrow from having lost the child she carried in her womb? You do realize that all people are created from 23 chromosomes from *each* parent?
Next time include both parents' sorrow.
I've read here on CZcams some folks laying blame on the poor 19 year old Van Vuuren for running across the track to put out the fire. Remember, he was a junior Marshal - his senior, the man he looked to for instructions and guidance, took off across the track first. Van Vuuren, a rookie volunteer race Marshal joined him carrying the heavy extinguisher. He was running on the older man's right hand side, opposite the oncoming vehicles, unseen by them because of the slight rise. Remember, Van Vuuren was following the older race Marshal. He assumed, quite wrongly, that the older, more experienced Marshal had a clear run or else such an experienced race hand wouldn't dare cross a active track. If you consider this, you can understand why the young, inexperienced Marshal just wanted to do his best and help put out a fire (and maybe save a life - they didn't know if Zorzi, whose car burst into flames, was himself burning or not). The young Marshal's enthusiasm in following the more experienced Marshal cost him his life and the life of Tom Pryce. If you ask me, I think the older Marshal was far more reckless than the rookie Van Vuuren, who was inexperienced and following his superior to aid the driver at an accident (which was their job). Terrible tragedy.
When you cross any kind of road, you don't rely on someone else, regardless of who he is. People always make mistakes, if you see the other crossing, you should not follow him, terrible accidents happened that way. You always have to make sure that a car is not approaching, and then you can cross the road, don't ever rely on someone else for that. And this applies to Jansen Van Vuuren as well
humbleradio...the marshall was not to blame, he saw the cars coming but what caught him and pryce was just that pryce was slipstream and could not see them and they cant see him. when he got out of that slipstreams thats when this tragedy happened
Forgotten Mustart - not in teams. In teams you work together. (Though I do think a quick check would've been good) People need to be following their superiors, else teamwork to this fashion is not possible. This is especially true in the pitstop area - during tyre changing, when one guy has finished his tyre, you don't go check that it's on correctly, you trust that he did it.
Forgotten Mustard That is not how people operate or behave. Suggesting that it is entirely the case is foolish and arrogantly ignores how accidents happen involving groups of people.
humbleradio the other marshall was his brother, wasn’t him?
How can that guy even focus on operating that fire extinguisher after witnessing that awful splattering of a human being?!
Duty first. The splattered guy is a goner. If he stood their and cried the car could've exploded and deal damage. The guy was using his brain.
@wargolemx102: I agree with you that the guy did the right thing and was using his brain. I was coming at it more from an amazement that he was able to think straight and do the right thing after witnessing that traumatic event!
if u saw the marshall`s body you would understand... there was no way that you could make out what it was R.I.P tom pryce
Total shock and auto pilot.
The other guy was Bill Vuuren, the father of the boy who got hit.
R.I.P. Renzo Zorzi. (1946-2015)
Such a shame he is best remembered as the one that inadvertently caused the death of Tom Pryce and Frederick Jansen Van Vuuren (the marshal). He naturally wasn't to blame at all but just set an unfortunate chain of events in motion.
+McLarenMercedes i think is Renzo never ever seen that before
It was protocol at the time that two fire marshals were to go out and deal with a situation like this. Thing was, Pryce was right behind someone and before the accident. As the guy in front moved a bit to avoid both men, Pryce couldn’t see Van Vuuren. As a result, he couldn’t get out of the way in time and he hit him, which in doing so, got himself killed due to the 40 pound fire extinguisher Van Vuuren had. It was just a freak series of events that lead to the deaths of two people. No one is to blame.
Van Vuuren was blamed since he had to make sure no car was coming over the hill. Stuck could avoid him but Pryce not. Fire was very dangerous back then so they had to get to the car. But they disregarded their own safety instructions (they were instructed to have one marshall giving hand signals if the track is clear). Since Van Vuuren was killed, there were no charges and he was not openly blamed because his horrible death was already too much for family and friends. But internally, he was given the scapegoat card.
Lacey Barkley no it lies with the other Marshall Van Vuuren was following
How is the kid's fault.. he's just doing his job, it's the race officials fault for having stupid rules
For all those who haven't looked at all the videos... The 'debris' is corner marshal Van Vuuren. He ran across the track carrying a fire bottle (extinguisher). What you don't see in this video but can see in others of this incident, is that when Van Vuuren gets hit at speed, his legs are ripped apart, but the fire bottle hits the driver Tom Pryce square in the head. It partially decapitates Tom, who's car continues on straight down the track at speed until it collides with another car.
I thought it was part of a f1 car that broke off but it's disturbing
@@grist2001Lazy ass attempt at trolling. Not even edgy, just pathetic lmao
"we need more of this in f1" WTF? you are talking abt real ppl who died💀💀
@@grist2001oh your stupidity
@@grist2001says the weak one
Well, at least the kid didn't have time to feel any pain, and I believe so was Pryce.
both killed instantly
I am not so sure about the marshal . I can't find the article at the moment but a doctor who worked as part of the US air crash investigation department said seeing as his spinal cord was still in tact he was probably alive for 5- 10 seconds afterwards .
Grusome stuff
Alive, maybe, but I doubt conscious.
Commander Bond I would not be so sure about that .
It's okay...I absolutey am sure.
The racer (tom pryce) who ran over the Marshall also died because the Marshall he ran over was holding an extinguisher which went through his window and broke his neck. Two people died in this video
The deaths happen to the left of the screen, although the aftermath is briefly through the bottom of it.
Window?
@@davidtx8777 the small windshield.
It’s so sad, it’s very tragic. I also think about if he would’ve lived, what kind of grief and guilt he would’ve felt. I know there was not a thing he could do, but knowing their life was taken by your own car. I can’t even imagine….
@@davidtx8777 visor
0:44 as if the driver didn't have enough to be concerned about, the guy with the fire extinguisher just scared the hell out of him.
I feel horribly for laughing
@@priyashabhowmik you should feel horrible
Wait can you explain this whole situation? It stil confuses me. What happened with the car in the first place and why did the person with the fire extinguisher scare him and why did the person look so jumpy ? I know nothing about racing so bear with me and I just found out about this event today …
@@millardfilmore1403 the car was set on fire during the race (normal thing), so a senior marshal (the guy who came to help) and a junior marshal ( a 19 year old boy) came with fire extinguishers to put out the fire. The senior marshal crossed the road, so the junior one followed him but got hit by a racer, and the fire extinguisher that was in his hand flew and hit the racer in the head almost cutting his head off, so both the racer and the junior marshal died.
The reason why the racer that was on the side was so jumpy because he stared at the remains of the dead junior marshal and was scared.
You can see the remains of the dead body of the junior marshal fly across the screen, and the racer that hit the marshal towards the end of the vid.
@@psychologicalbleak7453 look both ways innit
This really shocked me
My brain just doesn't understand that a person has died, so I'm not shocked.
@@gusramos3620 In fact 2 of them died😨
Yeah, I know that F1 driver who hit the marshall was struck in the head by his fire extinguisher.
You should really see the other angle you can find it somewhere and you can see the entire thing happen... two of them were running with fire extinguishers and one got fought by a car
Yooo wtf flat Stanley an f1 marshal now⁉️⁉️
It's just unbearable watching the start of this clip - Zorzi trying to pull out what I understand was the oxygen line into his helmet - knowing that the great gentleman Tom Pryce is only seconds away from the most ridiculously unnecessary death in F1 history. Even today people remember him with immense affection, and of course he was so brilliant. In the early practice, in the rain, before this GP, he had been outstanding - way ahead of Lauda, Peterson, Hunt etc. He was certainly as good as James. It wouldn't be fair to say better, but as good - definitely. NO blame either for Zorzi, he apparently just couldn't get the hang of the simple release mechanism for the line, and of course when he saw the sudden (brief, but he wasn't to know that) flames around him, all he wanted to do was get out and away, which was absolutely understandable. And as for the poor marshals, they were amateurs who saw a fire and simply went to help. The blame lies with those organisers who evidently failed to make those marshals understand how fast those cars were coming at them on that straight, especially since they had just emerged from a dip when Tom hit that marshal. But to this day I think of this - Tom was driving beautifully, in control as always, and, within less than a second, he died - just like that. Unbelievable.
I really don't think they needed to be told that the cars were fast. It's not like they couldn't see or hear the cars flying past them.
@@dickfitzwelliner2807 Hi, they were amateurs, and I reckon they clearly did need better training, because they DID walk across unsafely!
@@ysgol3 it's one of those very simple common sense things
@@ysgol3your trying to put reason to something that doesn't have any...it was a tragedy simple as.
@@jimmymcgill2557 Sorry? 'Reason?? No I'm not, I'm just saying how incredibly unlucky Tom was!!
For the people asking why didn't they notice the guy or why they weren't frightened all I have to say is that the body was probably so torn up and mangled beyond recognition. They probably just thought there was a part that fell off a passing car. You can actually see the dude look up and pause and look at his mangled friend and then look behind him to see if that was actually him just behind. He probably came to the conclusion that he really just stopped running and went somewhere else. Or there's the possibility that they knew what happened and that they had a job to do which is something that I really don't believe.
I mean even if they recognised it was a body, what were they really supposed to do? For one, something as gruesome as that just happening in front of you would very easily be something your mind wouldn’t fully comprehend all that quickly, especially if you didn’t see the full incident happen. And secondly, what were either of them meant to do for the kid? He was quite literally splattered and very clearly dead, and so going over to check on him rather than preventing a fire, while it sounds harsh, would be pointless.
If you watch the crash from the rear angle, you'll see that the second marshall getting hit would have been behind the first marshall's blind spot, and Zorzi would have been too preoccupied with the fire to notice what's happening (and the crash was at such speed that he probably didn't know at first what was the white thing flying was). The body travelled a fair distance and was so mangled that as you said, they probably thought it was debris.
@@ciaranwalsh96 yeah if I was a marshal rushing to a broken down car I would immediately think there would be debris around where the car broke down but honestly the race car was probably going over an excess of 160 mph when he hit the Marshall it was probably another fact that the body traveled so far into the distance that when the marshal was hit he quite literally disintegrated on impact and flew. Pretty Gruesome to think about
I think the cameraman noticed but they couldn't move down because a man getting mangled into several parts would be horrible on live TV
We see them both looking at the direction of the debis and the body. But imagine the reality, it happened so quick thay they could not comprehend what is happening. They saw that there was a crash and look very stessed. Their reaction of stress was to just do their job. The marshal put out the fire and the driver assisting somehow. It will be interesting what happened after the video. Maybe then they realized what happent and went to the body, or went away because of the stress. And durind this video Tom Prices car was still traveling down the straight. I feel shocked even at this moment...
Jansen van Vuuren's (the poor marshal) injuries were so extensive that, initially, his body was identified only after the race director had summoned all of the race marshals the next day and he was not among them.
Pryce's death was brutal too. The impact with the 40-pound fire extinguisher wrenched Pryce's helmet upward sharply. It's almost certainly an instant death for him.
RIP to both of them💔
I heard Pryce was almost decapitated cause of it
Not sure if that’s true. Apparently his brother was a marshal that same day at that same or near by post and identified him right away
@@YahniboyThey knew it was him by the car he was driving- unless the team snuck a ringer into the car before the start of the race?
I was there that day, on the bridge with a TV camera crew, looking down when the accident happened. I can recount it in slow motion. Something I never wanted to see, and will remember it for the rest of my life.
No you weren't.
@@davidtx8777 So, it's taken you six months to wake up and tell me that I wasn't there. Pathetic. Crawl back in your hole (your own).
Was it bloody ?
Cool story bro.
Cool story bro.
Same thing almost happened at Monaco GP last year when a couple of marshals ran across the track in front of Sergio Perez but luckily he managed to avoid both of them. Very scary for all involved
Oh hell,... why do i always end up on video's like this when i watch stuff about f1 racing .......
same...
It's the real world and the real issues of greed and dishonesty that made it such a dangerous sport.
Ricardo Ruiz uhm what?
@@happigappi3618 He has a point. Racing and Formula 1 especially in it's early years was a game of daredevils and challengers. Safety precautions were cut back, procedures made in the 40s was still in use, and deaths were barely looked back upon for improvements on driver and trackside safety. All in search of performance and victory
Azka '02 oh
70s was the worst in F1, they could lose life in every race
Not even close much more people died in the 50's. It was a revolving door with drivers being replaced all the time due to deaths. They didn't even have rudimentary safety gear like helmets or seatbelts and when they eventually adopted helmets they were open and they didn't even cover your face . 70's was very dangerous compared to modern f1 but compared to 50's or 60's f1 it doesn't even come close.
@@svfin and also the pre-war races in the 30s or the 40s
you misspelled "best"
Jackie Stewart drove with a spanner in his steering wheel so he could remove parts to help him escape accidents to avoid being burned alive
@@ryanwatterson4038 He was a successful driver because many other drivers of the time were fearful of getting hit with the spanner. They gave him a wide berth which allowed him an easier ride.
I first saw a video of this from a different angle. I’d heard of the accident but didn’t really know what it was. The impact caught me so off guard, especially how violently the boy flipped in the air. I can’t imagine what the two people saw when it happened right next to them.
"The situation caused two marshals from the pit wall on the opposite side of track to intervene. The first marshal to cross the track was a 25-year-old panel beater named William." The other marshal is not the kids father like some claim here.
It’s his brother
Decapitated by the fire extinguisher that the track Marshall was carrying. At least it was instantaneous for both of them.
May the racetracks in the sky always have fast chicanes and wide open straights. RIP to both.
iambiggus “nearly” decapitated. The helmet tore into everything but the spine, so the head didn’t dislodge, but yeah, he died instantly probably just from the impact alone
I heard someone made a analisys and proved that the marshall lived for 5-7 seconds. Sad
@@whothatniggaonthatnag3510 tell me what happens after death ooh wise, all knowing being you are?
@@JayDeeMcBee Hush your mouth. Speak only when I say to.
@@whothatniggaonthatnag3510 Who the hell are you, to tell anything to anyone. You're the one who should shut the fuck up
Watching after bahrain today😥
Peter Windsor brought me here, after mentioning this incident (regarding Bahrain). He was at the race in 1977.
that marshal was so fucking stupid, he was lucky that the race was under yellow flag
Lando Norris was panicking on the radio.
@@Rodrigo13Solario I'm referring to the Bahrain GP's marshal
I don’t think it hurts when you get it like that. It just shows you need to be ready to face eternity every moment.
Very true. What further contributed to this unfortunate event is that the scene in this clip happened on the summit of a slight rise after The Kink before you get the main stretch of the straight in front of the pits. With the speed the cars come out the Kink and then climb a 'blind spot' caught the unfortunate marshal unawares. R.I.P. both Tom Pryce and the marshal.
Motorsport has come a long way in terms of safety since these times. I mean look at how many lives the halo has saved. Every time I see this, I’m just horrified. Seeing someone get hit at that speed and sent flying. It’s so gruesome to watch. I feel like at another angle you can see his blood going everywhere. And to think that he was only 19 and his older brother (who was also a martial and was there according to a news article) witness the death of his younger brother and saw his lifeless body. Though this was more than 40 years ago, I bet he’s still traumatized and probably gets really paranoid when crossing a street.
So how many lives has the halo saved ?
@卐 ηαтυяαl 卐 Debatable - the rollover hoop behind the driver was also a factor
@@buckfaststradler4629 4, no contest.
I remember this clearly. I lived near Kyalami as a young kid and I remember this being on the news. I believe I read somewhere he was carrying the heavier extinguisher which slowed him down....but I’m willing to be corrected.
he was so mangled and in so many different pieces that they only identified him by being absent from the staff at the end of the race. RIP both guys but they died instantly.
FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GET IT READ CAREFULLY:
1.) The race car driver you see here is NOT Tom Pryce, it's Renzo Zorzi, the unwitting catalyst for this whole mishap. This paticular video does not show price himself (except the end).
2.) On THIS video, Zorzi's having car issues. Off camera, two guys, the marshals, weilding fire extinguishers, are running to the scene. Van Vurren, running right behind the guy seen putting out Zorzi's car fire.
3.) That stuff that flies in the lower left (cont)....
I feel so sorry for him, even though this happened so long ago, he should always be remembered as a legend
You surely mean leg end 😂
@@grist2001 ohhhh, u see, you’ve just started a war with all the f1 fans, their all gonna say your disrespectful and that, but I won’t that’s just a good joke
He was head and shoulders above the rest...... his legs were elsewhere.
@@manuelhung7571 at least he can be shared among his fans
@@enderblaze7068 😂 Absolutely, and he will forever rest in piece/s.
Watching 1970s clips of f1 is always terrifying. Idk how they didn't consider raising the safety standards at the time. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "In hindsight, it was obvious."
You read the auto biography of Sir Jacky Stewart and you see there was a cohort of people who were fighting tooth and nail to improve the safety of the sport. A part of the resistance was money. F1 wasn't yet the big money sport it is today. Part of it also seemed to be an acceptance of the danger by many. Don't forget that a lot of people involved in the sport had come through World War 2, and young mens fiery deaths wasn't an unusual thing to them.
the dude was in shock, its an instinctive reaction, he knew he could not help the poor marhsall who was clearly in pieces.
@@bacilluscereus1299 bro your asking a question to someone who commented 10 years ago😂
@@bacilluscereus1299 yes, he was, you can find the video with a better angle where you can clearly see it happen, but I don’t recommend watching it, it’s very graphic.
👁️👁️
@@bacilluscereus1299 No I checked his death photos. He was in one piece. His trouser was the one that flew off.
0:33 you can see the reaction of the Pilot after he saw what happened he was shocked.
"Wait, isn't there's two Marshall crossing the Track before?"
*looks to the right
"Dude wtf happened?"
0:45 He got shocked for the second times :v
The pilot? The driver.
@@just_cade In my country and many others they are called pilots.
@@just_cade we call them pilots as well in french « Pilotes de Formule 1 » (or whatever racing car)
1:17 you can see he wasn't torn in half.
Wasn’t or was? I know it’s been 6 years but I’m making sure that you didn’t make a mistake. Read my username.
@@nikobellic5655 i believe he is stating that there were atleast 3 separate pieces.
@@sudhanshugehlout5369 He wasn't torn into any pieces...
@@borisjohnson1473 but they said the other guy ( racer that hit him) was beheaded I’ve heard
There is another camera angle of this accident and you can see it better, its horrific. With the impact his trousers went off and it looked like he was torn in half, but there are pictures of him in the ground after the accident and it shows him in one piece.
When i was 15 i went to a drag/funnt car event in Union Grove WI wherein a car exploded and sheet metal flew into audience. A woman was decapitated 20 yards from where i sat. I can still hear the howling of the children. Im glad these things are much safer nowadaze
Uuugh those poor children
99percenter1 it was a horror story, yes.
@@99percenter1 oh yeah the children
I witnessed a similar incident when I was about 12. A wheel came of a stock car and flew into the crowd, ironically it hit the St John ambulance people. I remember that a least one person was killed and several others were seriously injured.
@@sambrooks7862 saw something similar at short track in s.e. Wisconsin in mid seventies, yes.
The 9kg fire-extinguisher was found behind the main grand stand, gives you an idea of the kind of impact it was.
The marshall who was hit was an inexperienced 19 year-old called Jansen Van Vuuren, who only ran across the track because track rules stipulated that marshalls had to work in pairs. He was so badly mutilated that it was only after a rollcall at the end of the race that they knew who was killed. The fire extinguisher that he was carrying hit Pryce full in the face with such force that it ricocheted over the grandstand, taking off Pryce's helmet and jaw bone.
I think most people know the story regarding how Tom Pryce was killed. The important thing is that the incident shows how crucial the good training and organisation of marshals is. Massively improved after unnecessary incidents like this one.
I was there. it happened right in front of us. What a great loss.
can u explain how the audience reacted to the incident? no one is prepared to see something like that
I was still a young man and it was a very tragic moment and accident. At first it looked as if he lost control over his car but he went straight into the safety fence without reaction. One of my friends said he have collided with one of the safety officials at Dunlop bridge and was hid by a fire extinguisher. Till today that accident still unfolded itself in front of my eyes. For years after the accident when we visited the track, we spoke about the accident. As i can remember the the official that was killed name was Frederick
Piet Brits
thank you for the response.
+Piet Brits Thanks for sharing that !
Piet Brits lyer
Van Vuuren made a bad call. but his life had barely begun and now he is dead... RIP to Tom Pryce and Van Vuuren... i don't know what else i can say
the helper was torn apart by tom pryce over 270 kph, turned into millions of pieces of meat, and the extinguisher hit tom pryce's helmet, and the helmet came off with the speed and a lot of wind in his face, kept him from driving, and eventually lost control and hit the wall violently, his face swelled up so much, and had head trauma
Who was that driver of the 17 car? Luckily, he didn't have the same ring with Tom Pryce and Van Vuuren.
@@rafaelsevero5891 you greatly misunderstood the wreck, it’s well documented so I advise you read up on it. Vuuren was killed instantly but his body didn’t explode on impact, he was almost cut in half and he had been largely intact otherwise. Pryce was partially decapitated when the extinguisher hit because of his strap and his spine had broken from his skull resulting in also instant death but the car remained at speed and hit the barrier 2km down from where he hit vuuren
@Blaize - H1Z1/CS you are right but a lot of his abdomen was largely damaged too, I’m not saying it’s as bad as what others are saying where it was intestine holding him together but there was still a lot of damage
@@somedrytoast2307 it's not fake, I saw it in the video, so be quiet in your corner
R.I.P. Tom and Jansen :(
"Tengo miedo de la muerte, pero no tanto por mí sino por los seres queridos que dejaría"
Tom Pryce
"No hay nada que festejar porque murieron dos personas"
Niki Lauda, después del Gran Premio de Sudáfrica 1977
Saludos desde Venezuela ¡Descansa En Paz, Tom!
"I am afraid of death, but not so much for myself but for the loved ones I would leave"
Tom Pryce
"There is nothing to celebrate because two people died"
Niki Lauda, after the 1977 South African Grand Prix
Greetings from Venezuela Rest In Peace, Tom!
"Car racing always will be dangerous"
Sir Jackie Stewart (1939 - )
Retired Formula 1 driver.
World Champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973.
Greetings from Venezuela.
I'm pretty sure their brains temporarily sorta shut down for a while, considering the absolute brutality they had just witnessed. I'm sure they were pretty traumatized.
Hard to know who to feel worse for. =( This is probably two of the most gruesome deaths in motorsports. Definitely makes you appreciate the dangers of auto racing - something so small and trivial can rip your head off at 200 MPH. And...something coming at you at that speed is going to tear you to shreds. =( What makes it particularly tragic is that neither death had to happen. It was a mistake to send the crew out so soon. Nowadays, they're a lot more careful.
i think the crew shouldn’t go out there at all. those cars whip around that track so fast. and this should have been a lesson for no one to run across a track when a race is occurring. there should be rules that the race has to restart if something is wrong with a racers car that can’t be quickly fixed and at their pit stop. or that the racer should get away from their vehicle and wait until the race is finished.
The reaction of that driver and the other Marshall has to be one the of coldest things in F1 history. "Literally like whatever bro my cars on fire."
Sad day 🏴🖤
:(
The marshal who survived may not even have known that Van Vuuren had followed him. The first marshal himself escaped death by inches and the noise would have been deafening, not to mention a stationary car that might burst into flames at any moment. Later footage shows him start walking towards his fallen colleague, only to turn abruptly when he realises what is lying there. The crowd who had rushed to the fence are also walking away en masse from the scene.
oh god you could even see the intestines. Damn
It’s also a miracle that Hans stuck wasn’t the one killed,because he was the driver right in front of pryce.
I remember seeing footage of stuck jumping out of his car, throwing himself over the barrier and vomiting when Petersen was killed in a fireball right in front of him.... When men were men and racing was downright brutal. RIP
Hard to believe the kid was my age. Rip both of them
Shocking, the way the marshall flies through the air is unbelieveably scary.
RIP Jansen Van Vurren
RIP Tom Pryce (a potential future world champion back in those days)
I was there the day it happened, sitting at Crowthrone at the end of the main straight. We never saw the impact but Pryce's car landed up about 30 feet from where we were sitting and there appeared to be no one in the cockpit. For those in the stands it was not apparent what had happened, it just appeared to be a mechanical failure of some sort.
The Marshalls name was Frederick Janse VanVuuren.
I was also sitting at Crowthorne corner. It was my first GP and we could see right back up the long straight. The guy to my left said he thought he saw a fire up near the pits. He asked me to pass the binoculars to him. As I was doing this I noticed a car on the right side of the track crashing into the braking markers and not slowing down. It was coming straight for us. I was paralyzed and could not move as we were in a packed bleachers with no space to move. When Tom Pryce's car struck the wall, there was a tremendous thud and the whole ground shook. A piece of flying debris (a 8 cm piece of fiberglass) hit the guy behind me.
When Tom Pryce was carried in a stretcher across the track towards the helicopter, his one arm dropped down from the stretcher and it looked very lifeless. I remember it was full of blood. It was very upsetting, especially that we heard over the radio that Tom Pryce had not made it, even before the end of the GP.
Only when we were watching the evening news on TV, did we find out the whole incident with the Marshall and the fire extinguisher.
@@christopherknee5756 yes they took their lives in their hands running across the track. the guy who made it missed being hit by the car running in front of Pryce by a whisker.
@@christopherknee5756Pryce didn’t hit a wall.
I hadn't even seen this horrific episode. It encapsulates the craziness of F1 in these years when the disregard for life and safety was just incredible 😢
Omg you can see his legs go by and THEN his arms and body. May his family be comforted
views decapitation, continues to observe if his car is alright.
Fuckin' Classic 70s.
He was in a state of shock, you can clearly see this in the video when he looks over and realises what has happened. Shock does funny things to people, seeing someone seem like they are quite calm is much more common than seeing someone run around in a screaming panic.
*****
I don't get why people often believe that being in a state of shock has the effects you describe.
I'm pretty certain they knew exactly what it was that had happened. Which is exactly why they looked at the body of that poor young man and continued on with the car. They knew that he was dead, and so trying to help him would've been moronic.
well, what would he do he's a fire marshall not a paramedic, dudes dead in 0.01 seconds, ....nothing to do here, put fire out and fly away. XD
lordskysixss
as harsh as it seems you are right. RIP to both of them...
Lucius Cornelius Macro what would you do? it was apparent he was instantly killed and making sure the stranded car is safe was more important, as harsh as it may sound.
1:18
That's all of him. The red part is his jacket, the extremely blurry dark parts are his legs.
1:18
Blimbing Gaming thanks
Certainly the most violent accident in the history of F1. The most violent in the history of Nascar is the fatal accident of Russell Phillips, racing in the Sportsman Division, in 1995 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His car got hit by another driver when coming out of turn 4, he crashed roof first towards the catch fence which caused his roof to collapse, and also hitting the caution light that dismembered his hand and head.
See Gordon Smiley at Indianapolis in 1982.
0:32 His body language says it all, what a horrific thing to witness.
Such a real shame Tom was an up and coming star. Fantastic driver and natural talent. The driver who took his place in that car was Alan Jones. And he got noticed by Frank Williams who gave him his drive in the car who got him his first title. Just think it could have been Tom who got noticed if he had lived.
0:28 you can see the body of Track Marshall Jansen Van Vuuren 19 years old fly across the track. He ran across the track with Bill Vuuren both did so without permission and Bill almost got hit but Van was hit by Tom Pryce. You can see the racer in white, Zorzi, look over at the body flying across the track. The fire extinguisher Van Vuuren was holding hit Tom Pryce in the head at 170 mph and his helmet strap practically decapitated him, Tom died instantly and his car kept going. Two gruesome deaths all caused by lack of safety and common sense. I know Zorzi was on fire (alcohol burns clear so you can't see it all on camera but he's on fire) and they wanted to put him out but cars going 200mph are not easy to dodge. Should have at least waited till the cars past... or maybe Zorzi should have gotten away from his car while it was on fire. Maybe they thought Zorzi's car was going to blow up and Zorzi not being smart enough to get away from it was in danger.
jesus christ, the two marshalls were father and son?? that's truly a tragedy.....a son and a young talented driver lost...but you can't blame that on zorzi, he surely didn't want to harm anyone
DocHollowDay true..
I saw the bits at 0:31 but still, nasty. Really nasty. I just can't stand looking at insides being scattered around like that
Penitten Bill was only 25... and The kid who died was 19.... so unless Bill fathered him at 6 years old... they werent father and son... or is that actually the case... I never heard they were father and son... did u see the video with the other angle... where u see the kid split in half?
The drivers were coming up a hill. The marshalls didn't see the drivers.
I like how everyone reads the wiki and then posts the details here...
I love how they just watch that body explode and they're all like "oh well.... so how's the tire pressure, little low?"
That's so rude, he was just preventing another accident.
Absolutely madness. The fire extinguisher took the drivers head clean off after his car made sushi out of the guy carrying it
@@robertdonnelly7493 Not clean off, but it’s almost not attached to the body anymore.
I don't think they comprehended what actually happened. Neither guy actually saw the moment of collision. They looked up after most of anything recognizable as human had already been spun into oblivion. All they saw was a single car crashing and debris.
Ya I know classic ambitious people ☺️😂
Remember when crossing roads, if you think you can beat a car at it's own game, you're almost always wrong.
Is it just me or the driver just didn't even react to the marshall getting obliterated in front of him. Like he looked briefly in that direction and that's it. It is like: oh look there's a man flying in pieces, then continue on doing whatever he was doing.
F1 was crazy in the 70s loads of drivers died and they didn’t stop the race and continued on
look at body no turn off engine car exploded boom you comment boomer
RIP Tom Pryce. You are in the sky.
I accidentaly came acros this video as an 8 year old and i was horrified. ive yet to watch it 5 years later. Poor kid who got killed and the driver RIP
Things which should not happen during a high speed race:
#1: people running across the track.
Look at him watching just after, imagine what he was thinking after witnessing that right next to you... absolute calamity.
bro just the fact that you can see his body in the bottom is what does it for me
You can see fly that poor kid ,R.I.P him and Tom ,a really sad day for F1
From what I have read about the accident over many years is that the young marshall was not torn apart as some people are describing. What you can see in the video are his clothes being thrown off by the speed of the rotation of his body.
If you see the other angle, you will see daylight where his midsection is when he goes in the air.
indeed, he wasn't torn apart, but his clothes were. Then fire extinguisher did hit Pryce head, causing his helmet to torn off and strap cut his throat and major arteries. That is why his car was covered with blood. Probably suffered major brain injury as well.
urmo345 Watch the 'uncensored' version. He was torn the fuckin' apart.
Kingslayer Lannister Where is the 'uncensored' version?
At least it was quick, poor bastards probably didn't know what hit either of them. The two survivors kept looking over there in a nervious way, they probably figured that the worker must have somehow gone somewhere else and couldn't quite believe that what was left laying on the track had once been him.
It’s crazy how the driver and marshal was so focused on his car that they just glanced at the kid after being hit as if it might not have been that serious
How did no one notice
That year three months later my uncle died after sustaining lacerations to his neck in a car crash days after graduating high school, I might be misinformed but another racer here died in a plane accident two weeks after the race. March 6th a day and four years later 8 teenaged people in a cordoba flew off a road and all died gruesomely near where I live in '81,... I'm spooked
Not to mention the driver in front of Pryce was named "Struck" and the advert he passes on the wall says "look out for.. the citizen" and fredrick was then struck and killed
StudaBakerrTV sorry for youre loss. Good grief. Well, nowadaze the race cars, walls EVERY ASPECT is much MUCH safer
@@MrChristopherHaas that's true. The coincidences of racing at this time including my family and my area had me in a weird mindset. Smoking too much I suppose but thankfully so regulations are safer. Theres no "see your life before you die" for the victim in this race. Doubt he saw it let alone expected it to swerve for him. 200 plus is to fast for alot of people with no scenarios like this. And thank you for your kind words!
I love how they not fucking censor it, but see a nipple. "OH GOD, CENSOR IT!"
In the USA yes, in the rest of the world (aside from Muslim countries) no.
This is the shittiest camera angle. It's basically censored.. you can't see shit. There's a better angle but it's not on CZcams.
imagine the PTSD the medics had after that. rest in peace son and father.
Can only say , thank you for this effort . We all have a reason to risk our own mortality . This struck note .
Kia Kaha
Whenever I hear of anyone called Jansen Van Vuuren, it reminds me of this moment.
What the hell? This is the worst death ever possible... I hope he rests in peace 🕊️
Really makes you think how distant of a concept death is, losing your life within moments not even realizing it.
Who Still watching this Is A LEGEND
@31 sec, worker tries to run across track w/ fire extinguisher, then is hit by another car at full speed; worker killed after being hit, the driver of that speeding car was hit in the face by the fire extinguisher, also died
Thank you 11 years later. I was confused.
Willis What Chu Talkin Bout no shit
Always though this was the most horrific dead crash in F1 history. Then I found out how the Francois Cevert's accident was like and under what conditions did Jody Scheckter (first man on the scene) found Cevert's corpse.
Cevert was literally sliced in two pieces by the way. Horrific.
according to Jackie Stewart, the stewards left him in the car because he was so clearly dead
I am puzzled. I have read some reports, and they all say Pryce was killed by a fire extinguisher, right during the crash. So who is getting out of the car and where is the track marshal before he is carried away.
How to hell is not age restricted
I could tell the white f1 driver felt bad after seeing the body. He was going from instant panic for his car from being calm....
He was in shock. Nowhere near calm.
Actually almost nothing of the victim is seen in this. I was watching the race live here in South Africa on TV.
The TV cameras caught the event from a different angle but from a further distance.
Clearly it was a dreadful accident and the track marshall did not have a chance, being hit at the speed involved. Very nasty indeed.
Seen this other angle... Its not nice...
There's better safety measures at go kart centres these days than there was in F1 in the 70s
As I recall it his name (the marshall carrying the extinguisher) was Janni Van Vuuren, and parts of his severed/dismembered body splash across the lower part of the video at @ 1:17. The fire extinguisher he had been trying to haul across the track hit Tom Pryce in the face an a mere blink-of-an-eye after Van Vuurens body was chopped all to hell (by the front end and wing of Pryce's car). Pryce must have been instantly killed, too, at the speed he was traveling--roughly 150 MPH at that point on the track.
If I also recall correctly the driver of #17 was Renzo Zorzi, and, as you can see, the fire in his car was pretty minor. So...two dead to put out a fire not much larger than a pack or box of cigarettes.
Of course Grand Prix racing in those days didn't often get it right when a conflagration was major either, such as Roger Williamson burning to death in his overturned car at Zandvoort in 1973 when only David Purley tried to save him...and rest continued lapping. Also, but for Purley's efforts, about as meaningless as promoting a particular brand of cigarettes.
RIP both of them
Back when saftey was a mere after thought
1970's era, are the most tragical accident in my opinion.
What a mess of that guy, nothing left of him!
Man it looked like they both sort of caught a glimpse of the impact, but didn't really process what they were seeing at first... You can even see the driver do a sort of stunned double take at 00:31 in the video. I've gotta wonder what was going through the surviving track worker's head after he turned around and the guy who was right behind him was just gone.
Fr it’s like he knew he was dead but didn’t want to go over and take the blame for his misjudgment
Just think of this, if Zorzi stayed there any longer, he'd be hit by Fredrick's body.
Wrong, do you just make this shit up???
Yes, I think at one moment he was in the path where the later crash debris spread, but he saw the car is not in flames and returned to it for some reason
Seeing this clip from another angle and at 0.25 speed. The young man had NO chance :((. Whether it be how fast the car came at him and ZERO time to react in any way or be it how badly he got mangled. Tom from what I hear from how he sustained his injuries had no chance either unfortunately. I'm so glad they've changed so much about stockcar racing to help protect marshals or drivers.
This and Russel Phillips are the most gruesome crashes in my opinion