The deaths of Tom Pryce & Jansen Van Vuuren

[Ima Sikfuk]

As a newbie to this forum, it is difficult to know if something has previously been posted. I have used the forum search and did not find anything relating to this topic but as I have learned on other forums, that does not necessarily mean anything. So here goes:
Tom Pryce was an F1 driver from Ruthin, Wales, in fact the only Welsh drive ever to lead an F1 champoinship Grand Prix, he also claimed two podium finishes in his short (42 races) career.

At the Kyalami Circuit for the South African Grand Prix on March 5, 1977, Pryce was trying to fight his way back into contention after a terrible start. On the 21st lap driver Renzo Zorzi (Pryce's Shadow Racing teamate) was experiencing fuel problems wherein fuel was pumping directly onto the engine (as it is oft times wont to do). Zorzi pulled off on the left side of the track on the main straightaway, just beyond the brow of a hill. Two race marshalls ran across the track to help, one of them being 19-year old Frederick Jansen Van Vuuren who was also carrying a 40-lb fire extinguisher. Driver Hans Stuck barely missed the first marshall, Pryce, driving behind Stuck, struck young Mr. Van Vuuren at a speed of approximately 170 mph, killing him instantly. The fire extinguisher Mr. Van Vuuren was carrying hit Pryce in the head killing him likely just as instantly.
If you wish, you can watch a rather disturbing video of the accident on YouTube .

Again my apologies if this has been posted previously.

[NOVSTORM]

Wow excellent post.

[duster]

Niiiiiiice. Is it my imagination or is the race marshall more or less ripped to pieces by the impact? Parts of him seem to go in different directions - especially in the slow-mo edition.

[Ima Sikfuk]

Niiiiiiice. Is it my imagination or is the race marshall more or less ripped to pieces by the impact? Parts of him seem to go in different directions - especially in the slow-mo edition.

According to the Wikipedia article on Tom Pryce, "the injuries to his body were so severe that he was identified only by exclusion after the race director summoned all of the race marshals and Van Vuuren could not be found".

[Chevyheaven]

Hello, Greetings imasickfuk. Nice little piece of video you have there. It was really interesting to watch. That poor guy got all ripped up.. I still dont see how Pryce was hit in the head with the fire extinguisher though. I saw him hit the man but than that was it.. Hmm I will have to watch closer.

Thanks for posting!

[ichabodius]

Ouch.

[hoxharding]

I didn't see him hit with the extinguisher either-but I don't think I want to look at that footage again. It looked like he was knocked out of his clothes and maybe split in half.
It also appeared half his head was missing. I saw another angle and I swear you can see this wave of blood just splash out.

[Rhonda]

There are MANY fatal wrecks on Youtube. Just put in fatal car wrecks or crashes in the search area and many come up. REALLY interesting (and some pretty awful.)

[jay]

Ouch what a way to go. Great post

[karaoke]

I think Pryce's car hit the marshall, which in turn knocked him off his feet, and the forty pound extinguisher was run into by two hundred miles per hour force of Tom Pryces head in the cockpit. The force of that shot the marshall in the air. I still don't see the massive injuries to anything else on the marshalls body other than bad head injuries from scraping his face on the car and on the ground. It looks like the force whipping him around pulling his pants off, and coupled with the red shirt he was wearing, make it appear that he was cut in half, but I still don't see it.

[ichabodius]

Ouch what a way to go. Great post

No shit. he went out with a bang! Make it quick and dramatic!

[Snudgie]

Hi and welcome IMasikfuk!

That was really quite horrible...I pride myself on being able to watch gross stuff....but that was really nasty (she says, after watching it like 7 times!)....at least it was hopefully quick for the poor guy.

[pvezz]

OMFG - he exploded!

[duster]

It appears that all his various bits and pieces disappear under that fence in the background. WTF's with that?

[Miho]

They acted too quickly in this case. It was in response to Roger Williamson's crash where no one responded and he burned to death in his car.

[Miho]

It appears that all his various bits and pieces disappear under that fence in the background. WTF's with that?

Duster I wondered that too. The only thing I can think of is that there has to be a large gap under the fence that the video just doesn't show.

[duster]

Duster I wondered that too. The only thing I can think of is that there has to be a large gap under the fence that the video just doesn't show.

It almost appears as though what's left of him is vacuumed under it. I wonder if the draft from the passing cars could've caused that.

[hoxharding]

It almost appears as though what's left of him is vacuumed under it. I wonder if the draft from the passing cars could've caused that.

I noticed that also-it was like BAM! and foop-it all went in one direction under the fence. Could it be the movement of the air from the impact was the reason for it?

[pvezz]

Forgot to say that I love your user name - LOL

[Ima Sikfuk]

Forgot to say that I love your user name - LOL

Thanks, I was torn between this Aeon Flux Capacitor.

[Cherry Malotte]

Damn it! I can't see it - don't have a YouTube account.

[ozzysmom]

Damn it! I can't see it - don't have a YouTube account.

You should set one up, only takes a minute and it's free.

[Nelliebean]

That was a gnarly video. Death by fire extinguisher. Ouch

[atomicbettie]

Was that the marshal in the video on the stretcher with the head injury, or the driver who was hit in the head with the fire extinguisher? I can't imagine the marshal was that put together after that impact. Holy geeze.

[Miho]

Was that the marshal in the video on the stretcher with the head injury, or the driver who was hit in the head with the fire extinguisher? I can't imagine the marshal was that put together after that impact. Holy geeze.

That picture is of Pyrce. Poor guy had his head almost ripped off.

[sunshine74137]

It almost appears as though what's left of him is vacuumed under it. I wonder if the draft from the passing cars could've caused that.

I know, that really sucks

[cleanskull]

I know, that really sucks

No pun intended.............right..........

[Seagorath]

Just wanted to repost this in this thread...WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEPULLjiFyI

[Lisamarie]

wow that was awesome!!! I mean in the moste horrible way, THANKS FOR THE POST!!

[Lisamarie]

wow!! He got blowed up!!

[Miho]

Just cause it was brought up thought I'd bump for oogling.

[Miho]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeYpn...eature=related

Interesting angle... The driver kinda gives the marshall a look like "Hey weren't there two of you."

[Miho]

[MaxyMillions]

I really want to watch the video, but reading the comments here makes me fear for my lunch. Is it oogier than Nikki Catsouras & Momonas, or is it bad because it is "live action"?

[Frazzzld Kat]

I really want to watch the video, but reading the comments here makes me fear for my lunch. Is it oogier than Nikki Catsouras & Momonas, or is it bad because it is "live action"?

No its from a distance. There is no close ups. You won't lose your lunch

Miho, if you watch when the guy starts to run back to his car and goes towards the passenger side then he changes his mind and runs to the driver side he looks over and sees the accident happen. He looks away and then looks again. He knows what just happened but what could he do? How tragic.

Also, after Tom Pryce hits the guy he has a bad crash so its hard to tell what damage the fire extinguisher may have caused.

[1karenhb]

I really want to watch the video, but reading the comments here makes me fear for my lunch. Is it oogier than Nikki Catsouras & Momonas, or is it bad because it is "live action"?

Bad because it's live action.

[BodyRot]

This one's got a bit of body footage: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8754d24519&c=1

And apparently a rather inappropriate "thud" sound effect, but I only know that from the comments as my computer is sound-less at the moment.

[malaki]

BodyRot...Thanks for the footage.....

[BodyRot]

BodyRot...Thanks for the footage.....

No prob. I saw a video that had slightly more lingering body shots but I cannot find it now and it's driving me mad! If I do I'll post the link.

[Miho]

No its from a distance. There is no close ups. You won't lose your lunch

Miho, if you watch when the guy starts to run back to his car and goes towards the passenger side then he changes his mind and runs to the driver side he looks over and sees the accident happen. He looks away and then looks again. He knows what just happened but what could he do? How tragic.

Also, after Tom Pryce hits the guy he has a bad crash so its hard to tell what damage the fire extinguisher may have caused.

HAHAHAHA the thud sound effect is sooooo unneeded.

By the way.. why the hell was he running circles around his car like that? I think the way he looked back it was like "What the fuck just happened?"

Ok another question. How the hell did he slide under the fence like that. It doesn't look like there was a gap. Was he so.. umm.. jelloy that he smushed under?

[Miho]

I really want to watch the video, but reading the comments here makes me fear for my lunch. Is it oogier than Nikki Catsouras & Momonas, or is it bad because it is "live action"?

If you can Porche girl or Mamonas you can do this. No blood really. You just see him get tossed and come out of his clothes. There is a close up video from another angle that you see... well bits fly across the front of the screen, but it is brief.

[Frazzzld Kat]

HAHAHAHA the thud sound effect is sooooo unneeded.

By the way.. why the hell was he running circles around his car like that? I think the way he looked back it was like "What the fuck just happened?"

Ok another question. How the hell did he slide under the fence like that. It doesn't look like there was a gap. Was he so.. umm.. jelloy that he smushed under?

I'm not as familiar with F1 cars but my guess is he was trying to shut it off or cutting off the fuel since it was shooting flames at first.

About the fence, and this is what I see, I could be wrong but... the Marshall guy, Van Vuuren, that Tom Pryce hit just slid and stopped at the fence. Tom Pryce is the one who ended up on the other side of the fence when his car crashed after hitting Van Vuuren.

Body Rot, I think I know what footage you are talking about, I remember seeing it before too. Its of Tom Pryce's mangled body on the other side of the fence before rescue get to him, it was horrible. But like you, I can't find it anymore.

[BodyRot]

About the fence, and this is what I see, I could be wrong but... the Marshall guy, Van Vuuren, that Tom Pryce hit just slid and stopped at the fence. Tom Pryce is the one who ended up on the other side of the fence when his car crashed after hitting Van Vuuren.

Body Rot, I think I know what footage you are talking about, I remember seeing it before too. Its of Tom Pryce's mangled body on the other side of the fence before rescue get to him, it was horrible. But like you, I can't find it anymore.

I think the Marshall's body kicks up a bunch of dust, there looks to be a "sucked under" effect but I agree, I think his remains came to a rest at the fence.

Still not finding anything. I wouldn't suggest asking on F1 forums because I've seen a few (during my searches) where someone has mentioned the accident and it seems to be a touchy subject, even 32 years on. They should lighten up - the people demand pics!

[Miho]

I'm not as familiar with F1 cars but my guess is he was trying to shut it off or cutting off the fuel since it was shooting flames at first.

About the fence, and this is what I see, I could be wrong but... the Marshall guy, Van Vuuren, that Tom Pryce hit just slid and stopped at the fence. Tom Pryce is the one who ended up on the other side of the fence when his car crashed after hitting Van Vuuren.

Body Rot, I think I know what footage you are talking about, I remember seeing it before too. Its of Tom Pryce's mangled body on the other side of the fence before rescue get to him, it was horrible. But like you, I can't find it anymore.

I want to see that video!! The fire thing makes sense. I didn't think of that.

I think the Marshall's body kicks up a bunch of dust, there looks to be a "sucked under" effect but I agree, I think his remains came to a rest at the fence.

Still not finding anything. I wouldn't suggest asking on F1 forums because I've seen a few (during my searches) where someone has mentioned the accident and it seems to be a touchy subject, even 32 years on. They should lighten up - the people demand pics!

Ahh that makes sense ok. It just really looks like he was sucked under the fence. I really want to see that aftermath footage of Pryce.

[Frazzzld Kat]

watch this tribute video of Pryce. He was a good looking guy IMO. But it has a few shots at the end of the EMTs working on him on the other side of the fence and then it shows them preparing the gurney for Van Vuuren who is still laying on the track side of the fence. (note the red shirt on the ground at the fence. His shirt was the only piece of clothing that stayed on)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFvGJnrCI3w

I forgot to add that the crash and aftermath are towards the end of the video. But at 1:55 is the pic of Pryce and to me he looks yummy!

[DivineDeath]

This one's got a bit of body footage: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8754d24519&c=1

And apparently a rather inappropriate "thud" sound effect, but I only know that from the comments as my computer is sound-less at the moment.

There is a *thud* affect and the first time I heard it, it made me jump, that was a sad video...and the music was kinda creepy too.

RIP to Pryce and Van Vuuren

[Miho]

bump

[Huffle]

So is there any footage of tom pryce actually crashing into the wall or whatever it was

And is there any different shots of that so you could see the fire extinguisher hitting his head?

And if this is the kind of stuff the public can see, imagine what Bernie Eccolstone has got in his massive video archive!

[Miho]

Bump because he has come up

[ryanolivia]

I am going to need to look for some other photos of this fellow. I just saw the photo on his Wiki page and I am not seeing the good looking thing. He would have been 25 in that photo and he looks about twice that.