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<b>SAFETY CAR WOES:</b> Safety cars are supposed to lead drivers away from danger during races but sometimes things can go horribly wrong.
Jordan Tan
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana - Pace cars have been used in motorsport for more a century but on rare occasions they can endanger the very drivers they're meant to escort.
Pace cars restrict the speed of race competitors after a crash during a race. Automakers also use such casr to market their new models especially in Formula 1.
A video shows a compilation of safety car crashes.
PACE CAR CRASHES
Former F1 driver Alex Wurz collided spectacularly with an SUV after overtaking the pace car at 1min11.
Watch: Safety cars caught in dangerous situations.
The video leaves the best for last, at 7min48, with shots of the pace car at Talledega, held at the Alabama International Motor Speedway in 1986, when a drunk spectator stole the pace car, a Pontiac Firebird.
The driver completed one lap of the 4.2km track before a road block was set up at turn 4 and was pulled out of the car and arrested by authorities.
In 2014, Mercedes-Benz supplies F1 with a safety car, an SLS AMG, driven by former DTM driver Bernd Maylander.
Traditionally they are powerful sports cars or sedans, but sometimes obscure cars get the nod, such as in the 1995 German Formula 3 championship when a Land Rover Discovery was used.
Pace cars restrict the speed of race competitors after a crash during a race. Automakers also use such casr to market their new models especially in Formula 1.
A video shows a compilation of safety car crashes.
PACE CAR CRASHES
Former F1 driver Alex Wurz collided spectacularly with an SUV after overtaking the pace car at 1min11.
Watch: Safety cars caught in dangerous situations.
The video leaves the best for last, at 7min48, with shots of the pace car at Talledega, held at the Alabama International Motor Speedway in 1986, when a drunk spectator stole the pace car, a Pontiac Firebird.
The driver completed one lap of the 4.2km track before a road block was set up at turn 4 and was pulled out of the car and arrested by authorities.
In 2014, Mercedes-Benz supplies F1 with a safety car, an SLS AMG, driven by former DTM driver Bernd Maylander.
Traditionally they are powerful sports cars or sedans, but sometimes obscure cars get the nod, such as in the 1995 German Formula 3 championship when a Land Rover Discovery was used.
