KENT, England — Henry Surtees, 18-year-old son of racing legend John Surtees, died Sunday after he was struck in the head by an errant wheel and tire from another car during a Formula 2 event at the Brands Hatch circuit.
The crash came a day after the young driver scored his best finish to date, third, in the new single-seater series.
Surtees was knocked unconscious when a tire from the car of driver Jack Clarke ricocheted into his path after Clarke spun and crashed backward into a barrier. Surtees's car was estimated to be moving at about 140 mph.
Surtees's car continued on into the next curve before crashing and coming to a stop. He was taken by helicopter to Royal London hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
John Surtees, 75, is the only driver to have won world championship titles in both motorcycle and automobile Grand Prix racing. The elder Surtees, 500cc motorcycle world champion in 1956 and 1958-'60 and Formula 1 world champion in 1964, was actively involved in his son's racing career.
At age 26, John Surtees switched from bikes to cars and won his first race, the German Grand Prix, in 1963. He also won the inaugural championship in the Can-Am sports car series in 1966. He retired from driving after the 1972 season, in which driver Mike Hailwood won the European F2 championship for the Surtees Racing Organisation team, which continued to operate as an F1 constructor until 1978.
Surtees left a position as manager of Team Great Britain in the A1GP series to manage his son's career when Henry joined the new F2 series this year.
"Henry has been progressing well and in this day and age we need to give talented kids a greater opportunity to show off their skills," Surtees told Chris Hockley of The Sun newspaper in January. "F2 is an international series that does exactly that."
Modern racing cars are designed to absorb impact by deforming on impact. F2 cars, like higher-level machines such as Indycars and NASCAR and Formula 1 machines, are equipped with tethers designed to prevent wheels from becoming detached as the suspension components give way.
The tethers were developed several years ago after two incidents in the U.S. in which tires cleared debris fences and fatally injured race fans at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, and Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
The F2 grid includes Alex Brundle, son of former F1 driver Martin Brundle.
Inside Line says: U.S. racing fans can relate to this tragedy. In 2000, 19-year-old Adam Petty, a fourth-generation NASCAR driver, was killed in a crash at New Hampshire International Speedway. He was a grandson of the great Richard Petty, NASCAR's all-time winningest driver and seven-time Cup Series champion. — David Green, Correspondent
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