This has been a very tough weekend for motorsports. Firstly, earlier on today, the Rally of Bulgaria was cancelled when navigator Flavio Gugelmini was killed and his driver Brian Lavio injured in an accident on Special Stage 7.
That was followed by an accident at Brands Hatch this afternoon that claimed the life of 18 year-old Henry Surtees – son of Formula 1 World Champion and Motorcycling World Champion John.
It would appear that an errant wheel from Jack Clarke’s crashed car struck Surtees’ on the head leaving him unconscious. From that point on, an unconscious Surtees pressed down on the throttle and eventually hit a barrier at the following turn head on. He never regained consciousness.
Surtees has come through the ranks of Formula BMW and Formula Renault after many years competing in Karting championships to find himself in the reformed Formula 2 series that his father helped to set up and this incident comes just one day after his first ever F2 podium finish. From all accounts thus far, it would appear that this is just a horribly unfortunate accident with the worst possible outcome.
Henry Surtees (1991 – 2009)
