Dan Wheldon Modern Day Gladiator

A truly sad weekend for IndyCar racing as Dan Wheldon dies in an accident through no fault of his own. A great racing driver and a true gentlemen. He will be sorely missed. There has been much talk of the prize money challenge and how this may have been in part responsible. It is hard to see how that could be the case – although if Dan had not been at the back of the field he wouldn’t have been in that particular accident. More suspect was the number of cars racing on such a tight circuit. It is right that drivers have the ultimate right to risk their lives doing a sport they love – so long as the race organisers do all they can to minimise the risks without changing the inherent nature of the sport. There is always a risk of an airborne accident in open wheel driving so it must be a duty of all concerned to make the cockpits as safe as possible without removing the open wheel element of the sport. All racing drivers risk death and injury. Truly they are modern day gladiators. RIP Dan Wheldon.