Almost 2 weeks after the tragic death of Craig Breen, which occurred from injuries sustained in an accident during a pre-event test of the Rally of Croatia, near Lobor on April 13, the FIA and Hyundai Motorsport are still working to try to understand how the Irishman’s i20 N Rally1 could have gone off the road, but also how a fence post could have entered the passenger compartment, which proved fatal for the 33-year-old from Slieverue.
The dynamics of the accident have been partially told in recent days by Cyril Abiteboul, but only as regards what and how Breen could have mortally wounded in the Lobor accident.
FIA Rally Director Andrew Wheatley confirms that the Federation has already received a lot of information since the start of the investigation into Craig’s crash and that motorsport’s governing body is evaluating all aspects in the hopes of improving performance. safety.
“The investigation into the incident is ongoing and will continue. We are unable to say today whether there will be any future action to be taken. I can assure you there is a dedicated FIA team investigating every opportunity to understand how to move forward.” .
“The characteristics of Breen’s accident are very unique and I’m not sure there is a simple solution. We have a lot of information, but we are not yet able to share the results. We cannot bring Craig back, but we can try to make sure to take all possible precautions”.
Rally1: the FIA monitors the increase in speeds
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
At the beginning of last year the WRC took note of the introduction of the Rally1 regulation. This foresees that the cars of the highest class of the World Championship run with a thermal engine, assisted in certain situations by an electric one, for a total of 500 horsepower.
Although Breen’s accident would have occurred at relatively low speeds, Wheatley confirmed that the aspect linked to speed is currently under the magnifying glass of the FIA: “Absolutely, speed is the object of constant attention on our part, because the reality of the facts is that every year the speeds increase”.
“It’s certainly not something planned, but it’s because we have a Service Park full of talented engineers who are making every part of the car more performing and the FIA’s constant role, whether it’s safety, technical or sporting matters, is to get to a point where we need to balance safety versus speed.”
“We have all had a very difficult week, as we have lost a friend like Craig. And it is very rare to lose drivers at the top of the sport. Talking to the drivers, they love the cars they have available at the moment, they are exciting to drive and no one wants to say that’s enough. As part of an ongoing, ongoing process, we’re evaluating where we are.”
Safety in tests is subject to evaluations
This is what the curve in which Craig Breen lost his life looked like in June 2019
Improving overall safety doesn’t just mean making cars safer, but also focusing on the routes. In particular, after Breen’s crash, also what concerns the pre-event tests.
Breen lost his life in an accident during the preparation tests for the Rally of Croatia, and his death was caused by a pole of a fence placed no earlier than 2019. In fact, it is enough to find the fatal curve on Google Maps to notice how, in June of that year, there were no fences (photo above, ed). On the contrary, the area was much more barren than it is today, with no light poles, no roadside signal posts and lots of extra vegetation.
“I think the reality is that we have quite strict controls on testing, but also that we have a limited number that teams can use and they have to apply to the organizers and the FIA to plan these days.”
“There are a number of safety guidelines in testing, but obviously the safety level of private testing is not the same as a WRC event, which is planned years in advance.”
“The lesson from this tragic accident is that we need to understand what can be done to lower the accident rate of this type, even from 10% to 8, or 6%. We will never stop learning and I hope we can use the experience and information to understand what small changes can be made”.
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