Open Wheels, Closed Cockpit?
Following the tragedy at the Pocono round of the 2015 IndyCar season in which, as I am sure you are well aware, Justin Wilson lost his life the suggestion has again been made to enclose the cockpits of modern single seater racing cars. The question is: Is this the way forward? The answer, In my mind is, Yes, absolutely. In the last year there have been two high profile motorsport deaths as a result of just this, not to mention the incident involving Maria De Villota who would later die in 2013 as a consequence of her 2012 accident or Henry Surtees, hit by an errant wheel in 2009 at Brands Hatch. Many purists would say that open wheel racing and F1 / Indy Car in particular have always and should always be open top and that the drivers know the risks involved, this is to a certain extent true but in reality should there be as much as possible done to ensure maximum driver protection. When Senna was killed, the sides of the cockpits were raised to protect the driver’s heads from ...