Spain was at a very critical time, Franco was about to die ( he died in November) and everyone knew democracy will make its way, so no one care to fix just a little the wonderful circuit of Montjuich, a circuit recomended by Caracciola in the 30's when drived to a dinner around the city: he said "You could make a great urban circuit in these strets".
I mourned the deaths of Senna and Joey Dunlop - 2 legends of motorsport racing. But death is the allure about motorsport that separates it from other sports even though it is not the exclusivity of motorsports itself. I think the 60s and 70's were the golden ages of F1 and Indy. I also like the 80's in F1, but by then the deaths had plummeted, changing the nature of the sport. The Isle of Man TT still remains though.
This has got to be the worst F1 crash of all time. Not only was Pryce decapitated but a young steward crossing the lane was hit and almost torn in half.
As bad as it looked, but blunt force trauma of the impact would have knocked both men unconscious instantly. Neither man had to suffer, which is a lot more than can be said for many other F1 deaths of that era.
For better understanding. The parents of francois and his siblings was NEVER named goldenberg, because they never got married!!!! The correct name therefore is francois albert goldenberg according his passport. Not the other way round-albert francois. That‘s incorrect.
I was 10 years old in South Africa when this happened. I remember seeing the footage of the accident broadcast on TV including the horrific collision with the marshal. That left a lasting impression on me and I never got the image of the marshal spinning off the track out of my head. I've seen the unblurred footage recently and it is exactly as I remember it.
The organizers were the culprits of everything, they were very autoritarian and didn't want to instale a chicane at the stadium as the drivers asked for.
Pryce's death wasn't as gruesome as Cevert or Helmut. One was sliced in half, the other beheaded. Am glad the marshall here wasn't cut into pieces and it was his clothes scattered about. Still horrible.
A few 100 000's of people saw the thing on TV ... I was one, and it has lived with me all my life... TV banned showing the footage, but not before a nation got traumatised as it was our "International Track" and well covered on TV. Kyalami was my home track to go watch. The marshals were heroes and "the best in the world" at the time, very "KEEN"! Racing was so popular in those days.. can you see the crowd there in 1977? (sponsored by tobacco companies.... who killed more people per day than died in this day!) It's a bit stupid YouT "greys" the images out.. how can people understand what it look like to see someone die, and what the dangers are, when they do that? I guess the Ferrari film was accurate in that respect.
