Down force is tantamount in any race and having a humongous rear wing helps keep the rear in check, but when it comes to races, these things can become a danger as Team HWA Mercedes found out during a DTM practice round at Zandvoort last Friday.
A member of the HWA Mercedes Team was hospitalised following an accident when Ralph Schumacher came into the pits for a quick tyre change for his C-coupe. As Ralph was pulling out of his pit, a HWA Mercedes Team member was holding up the air-line so as not to get caught by his car. But as Ralph was accelerating up to pit-lane speed, passing by the HWA Mercedes Team pit, the team member released the air-line thinking that Ralph’s race car had passed on by.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case, as the air-line managed to just get caught onto Ralph’s rear wing, ripping it away from its mounting and causing its fixture to rapidly swivel, striking a HWA team mate square in the face. Thankfully, it was mandatory for helmets to be worn for all pit-lane crew.
The incident required 4 HWA team members to be sent to hospital with one hospitalised due to the severity of his injury. The impact was so great that the hospitalised team mate received a bloody forehead (though not life-threatening), but he remains in hospital for further observation.
