Jo Siffert Fatal Crash Brands Hatch 1971 High Quality Footages.

***DESCRIPTION***
Siffert was killed in the non-championship World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch, Kent, England, the scene of his first victory in 1968. The suspension of his BRM had been damaged in a lap one incident with Ronnie Peterson, and broke later. This was not admitted by BRM until much later when it was accidentally divulged by a BRM ex-mechanic.[3] The BRM crashed and immediately caught fire. Siffert could not free himself from the burning car.

In the subsequent Royal Automobile Club (the UK organising and regulatory representative of the FIA at the time) investigation, it was discovered that Siffert had only suffered a leg fracture in the initial crash but because three fire extinguishers failed to work properly no rescuers could reach Siffert for five minutes and he died of smoke inhalation.[4] A fire marshall stated that if the fire extinguishers worked correctly then they could have reached Siffert within 20 seconds.[5]

This accident led to a rapid overhaul of safety, both in-car and on the circuit. On-board fire extinguishers (using BCF—bromochlorodifluoromethane, an aircraft product) became mandatory and also piped air for the drivers, direct into their helmets.

[paulbuckland]

My dad and I were 30 feet - 10 metres - away. Can still smell it as I sit on my sofa writing this 51 years later. Jo Siffert was a great driver, more of a sports car expert than an F1 ace, but we consoled ourselves that he would've been killed instantly and not suffered in the searing flames. Whether that was the case or not nobody will know. So many were killed in motor racing back then; a different world with different standards.

[fabianrocha]

"My husband didn't want to go, he was originally supposed to race in the Japanese Grand Prix on the same date but his Porsche couldn't get there. But Jo also loved Brands Hatch, he especially loved Jackie who lived in Switzerland like us and was a good friend. So he went..."
— Simone Siffert

[mabelpup]

Still amazes me how safety crews were so unprepared for these types of incidents

[probablygraham]

We were there that day. The race was ironically a celebration of Jackie Stewart's winning the world championship and no points were at stake. A day to celebrate motor racing. After parking the car, we realized that somehow we had managed to get into the circuit without paying (I assume we had driven past someone who had thought we had tickets) so for the first time at a formula 1 race we treated ourselves to grandstand seats. During the race we suddenly saw a huge pillar of black smoke coming out of the woods, and then no more cars were racing any more. We could hear the cars but it was obvious that they were stopped. Then all the drivers switched off their engines and there was deadly silence. We didn't know what had happened and there was no information on the speakers until later on when I think they said that Seppi Siffert had crashed, but when we saw the burnt remains of the car being towed back, it was obvious that nobody had got out of the car. A day that started so well and ended so badly.
EDIT: I wasn't sure whether to say it here or not, because I still find it distressing to think about, but here is some extra information. After races - especially at Brands Hatch where it could take hours to get out of the car parks, we used to walk around the circuit at the end of the day. When we came to the scene of the accident, a kid was shouting that he had found something in the mud and water, and held up Jo Siffert's watch. I simply can't believe that he only had a leg fracture because the watch was one of those diving watches with a face made of thick glass. The watch was completely smashed and the metal strap was bent and broken, so he must have had serious injuries to his arm too. Ironically I hadn't thought about it for years, but the recent debate about drivers wearing jewellery and watches reminded me.

[timheidel]

Today, he would have walked away without a scratch. It is sad how Jackie Stewart was criticized for demanding safer cars, safer tracks, better rescue/medical abilities, etc.

[David-xlcp]

I was there, somewhere in that film, I was 16 at the time and with my friend Graham. We were stood about half way up the hill when it happened. We ran up to the corner and the heat and smell hit you. Something I will never forget, very sad.

[karpabla]

One of the most infamously striking accidents in F1 😥
Jo Siffert was a great driver and, particularly, one of the best sportcars driver we can remember.
What a cruel coincidence that Siffert and Rodriguez died in secondary races with a short time of separation. In a short period of time we were robbed of a whole bunch of motorsport history.

[SwanSycorax]

I was there that day and still remember the horrific moment we saw the massive plume of black smoke rising over the trees. I was at Clearways at the time. The event was run to celebrate Jackie Stewart's second world championship but this sickening event cast a terrible shadow over what had been a very enjoyable event. Sadly there were many such dark days in that period of motor racing and too many lives were needlessly lost. Thank goodness things have changed so much during the past fifty years

[ernestomartinez]

You can see all of the drivers on their cars watching not so far from a distance how their fellow driver is dying. I wonder how many of them closed their eyes. That's impossible to erase from their memories.

[randyjohnson-errd]

Watching older f1 and indycar races today makes you appreciate the advancement we've made in safety now days. Fatal accidents back then are nothing today. You have to respect any driver that had more than 6 year career.

[DoctorAustin]

This is how it would still be today without Jackie Stewart's efforts.

[judefernandez]

I remember reading how the other drivers stopped their cars and could only watch one of their mates dying and there was nothing they could to help him . Rest In Peace Jo Siffert . I used to follow you while in India .

[edgarsantiago_]

Scary similar to Niki Lauda's crash 5 years later. Sad to think, but moments like these saved lives in the future 🙏🏼

[lucienterragnolo]

I met him at Reims. There had a F2 race. He drove a BMW. Later I saw him two times at Spa-Francorchamps. Very great driver with Rodriguez.

[beefeekeefee]

I used to race MX with a guy named Milan Garrett back in the mid 70's. He went on to race cars and at some point had bought a March FA car. He got off into the dirt at Laguna Seca on the high speed section of old configuration track, the car flipped a couple of times and he ended upside down back on the tarmac. He said he was stuck in the car for what seemed like an eternity as fuel flowed down all around him from ruptured fuel cell. Scared the s**t out of him and he never road raced again. He did have a nice career racing sprinters though. Passed a few years ago of natural causes. RIP Milan.

[fabianrocha]

"I saw it was Siffert's car, he was leading the race, then I got close the car was on the "start" of the curve I had time to stop pressing the pedal and start braking and when I got close I saw his head was still moving, his car upside down... _Starts crying"_ — Emerson Fittipaldi in the brazilian documentary "A Era Dos Campeões"

"[...] then there was a very bad crash in 1971 in Brands Hatch. Jo Siffert with a BRM flipped I tried-I stopped the car to get him out of the car and his car blew up... He was a friend of mine, I lived in Switzerland too [...] and it was another hard blow..." — Emerson Fittipaldi in an interview

[albericfallon]

Cela fait plus de 50 suis encore retourné mon cher Jo

[john]

I was at the meeting at Brands Hatch that day. I was watching from the bridge that goes over to the country section and was just past mid way over the bridge. The cars came through the section at high speed and the surface both under and just after was pretty bumpy and the cars were bottoming as they climbed an incline to the next corner. As Jo came through his car like the others bottomed and veered violently to the left and hit the dirt bank and turned over and exploded into flames. It seemed pretty clear that something in the suspension had broken, I thought at the rear. I was pretty shaken up with seeing it happen and didn't watch motor racing for quite a while afterwards. I did report at the time what I saw to the authorities. John

[Kidraver]

Was there that day, saw the smoke, sad day.

[tonyhonour]

I was there, on a school trip. We were given grandstand places (the school was for pupils who had Cerebral Palsy) so all we could see of the crash was the aftermath but we were in no doubt whatsoever as to the seriousness of the accident. It was still a great day out but severely marred; I remember it like it was yesterday.