VALE: Dan Wheldon
The motorsport community is in mourning today after Daniel Wheldon lost his life in an Indycar crash in Las Vegas this morning (Australian time).
Like so many professional racers, Wheldon had a significant career in karts. In Dan's case, he won several British Cadet kart championships and other junior events in the late 80s/early 90s. He raced Formula A in 1995, winning the World Cup (aboard a Fullerton kart), 11th in the World Championship and 4th in the European Championship. This was up against people like Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson.
Despite switching to cars in 1996, Wheldon was regularly back behind the wheel of a kart, winning, among other things, two Granja Viana 500 mile races in Brazil. The two-time Indy 500 winner competed in the TaG Senior class at the SKUSA SuperNats for the past three years, including 11th last year driving Arrow/Leopard. He was set to compete there again next month.
Above: Dan Wheldon with Aussie junior, Joseph Mawson, at the SKUSA SuperNats in Las Vegas last year
pic - Ash Budd/AF Images
Wheldon was to have driven with HRT's James Courtney in the V8 Supercars event on the Gold Coast this weekend.
"I first met Dan when I moved to Europe in karting in the mid-90s" Courtney has said. "We knew each other a long time and considered ourselves friends. Today is difficult for those of us who have lost a mate but most of all, as a father of a young family, I am struggling with knowing Dan's wife Susie is now without her partner and their children, Sebastian and Oliver, will grow up without their father. It's Dan's family, all of his family, who I truly feel sorry for."
RIP Dan Wheldon (1978 - 2011)
pic - Wheldon/facebook
Above: Onboard with Wheldon at the opening round of the Florida Cup last year
