Motorsport can be dangerous. Fortunately a death in motorsport today is rare thanks to safety improvements. There was a time, however, when multiple deaths over the course of a racing season was the norm. The first deaths in motor racing are believed to have occurred on May 1 1898 when two competitors died in a road race in France. This cache commemorates eight racing drivers or riders who have paid the ultimate price for their sport.
The cache can be found at S45 AB.CDC E170 EF.GHE
A= Jim Clark's first Driver's World Championship was won in 1963 driving the Lotus 2__? Clark would die in an insignificant F2 race at Hockenheim.
B= Italian driver Elio de Angelis crashed fatally while testing a Brabham BT55 F1 car in 1986. During his F1 career he scored __ fastest laps in a race?
C= Francois Cevert crashed fatally during qualifying for the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in October 19__3? As a mark of respect his Tyrrell team-mate Jackie Stewart was withdrawn from what would have been his 100th and final F1 race (he had already decided to retire after this GP). Stewart is generally regarded as the man who started the crusade for safer conditions in motor racing. Today's competitors owe him much.
D= Wolfgang von Trips died in a crash in the 196__ Italian GP?
E= Briton Mark Farmer was riding a NZ-built Britten V1000 when he crashed fatally during practice for the Isle of Man TT on __ June 1994.
F= Henri Toivonen was driving a Lancia Delta S__ when he crashed fatally during the 1986 Tour de Corse rally. His death (and that of his co-driver) led directly to the spectacular but fragile Group B rally cars being banned from the sport. F=Answer minus one.
G= Bruce McLaren (co-driving with fellow New Zealander Chris Amon) won the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 196__? How many NZers today realise that the Formula One team that ranks alongside Ferrari as the most successful in F1 history was established by a New Zealander? To this day, McLaren F1 cars run with a stylised Kiwi logo on their nose. McLaren died in 1970 when bodywork detached from a McLaren M8D Can-Am car he was testing, dangerously destabilizing it and causing it to crash. G= Answer minus two.
H= Gilles Villeneuve died in a horrific crash when his Ferrari hit the rear of another car during practice for the Belgian GP in 1982. However, he is usually remembered most fondly for his stirring duel with Rene Arnoux in the French GP of 197__.
I hope that as you researched the answers to these questions you took the opportunity to learn a bit more about the rich history of motorsport.
Incidentally, the dummy start co-ords are on a piece of road used by the local Motorsport NZ-affiliated car club as an annual hillclimb event. At the cache see if you can spot something that reminds us that "Motorsport Can Be Dangerous".