European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 12, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 25 racing Roundup Ray crowd safety is Tough problem Germany s Walter Rohrl twice world rally driving Champion has warned loud and often that a rally tragedy was about to happen if safety Steps were not taken. Describing spectators at past portuguese rallies As human guardrails Rohrl also predicted that when the Spectator deaths came they would come in the portuguese rally. Italian spectators along the san remo rally routes crowd the cars too Rohrl said but at least they have enough sense to jump away. But in Portugal the spectators just stand there defying the Drivers to hit  last wednesday the opening Day of the portuguese rally the tragedy Rohrl warned about became a reality. Two spectators a Mother and her 11-year-old son were killed and 28 other spectators were injured when a car went into the crowd. It could have been much worse but this carnage was bad enough. Rohrl of course has not been the Only Driver to sound a warning but he has remained the most Vehe ment. After the Accident All of the professional Drivers and their teams withdrew from the event the Drivers saying in a statement we feel it is totally impossible to guarantee the safety of  the portuguese rally the third round in the world championship continued with non factory teams and Drivers but it will Bear no influence in the outcome of the 1986 world championship series. The Spectator safety problem is a Tough one especially with the rally cars becoming Ever More powerful. The factory entry cars most of them with turbocharged engines turning out 450 to 500 horsepower leave the Drivers with Little margin for error. And even the world s greatest rally Drivers can make mis takes. In Portugal however error played no part. The Driver Joaquim Santos of Portugal lost control of his Ford is 200 when he swerved to avoid a Spectator who was standing in the Middle of the Road. Out of control his car then ran into the crowd at the next curve. During the recent Monte Carlo rally which we covered in january it seemed that every other press bulletin contained complaints from Drivers about near misses with spectators. And in one instance two spectators were seriously injured when they were hit by rally cars. Fortunately there were no fatalities at Monte Carlo but there could have been. If rally sport at the world championship level is to continue some extremely Sharp increases in Spectator safety must come about just As the Drivers have stressed time and time again. But with the vast amount of territory that a rally route covers there is no easy solution. The factory Drivers and teams acted properly in por Tugal by pulling out of the rally and thereby penalizing the fans not allowing them to see the top stars in action. By this decision the Drivers and teams not Only a photo safety campaigner Walter Rohrl forces his Way through portuguese crowd protested Lack of safety and crowd control but also served notice that the fans themselves must develop a degree of Spectator self discipline if rallying is to continue. Last week was a Bleak one for motor sport the portuguese rally deaths followed by the shocking news that englishman Frank Williams founder owner and Boss of the Williams Honda team was badly injured in a single car Accident that May leave him with Par Al Zed legs. His team had been testing the new fw-11 car at Paul Ricard circuit near Toulon France,.and every thing had gone Well. After the test session Williams left the circuit late saturday for the Nice International Airport but crashed at High Speed a Short time later when he lost control of his rental car in a curve. The car left the Road and rolled several times coming to rest in a Field. Williams suffered a broken Back and was taken first to a Hospital in Toulon then to the la Timone Hospital in Marseilles France where he under went extensive treatment for spinal injuries. On tuesday Williams condition was termed Sta ble but there was no word on How Long he would be in the Hospital. Obviously it will be a Long time and this unfortunate Accident comes As an enormous setback for the Wil Liams team a team that had been a Good bet to win this year s world championship. But without Frank Williams at the Helm a championship May not be possible. Williams is More than just the Boss of the team. He is the Force behind it the Leader the master planner the sponsorship  ironically we received the Williams team press kit in the mail tuesday this one going into detail on the new fw-11 Honda powered car. The press material also stressed that two fw-11-hondas would be ready for the brazilian grand prix the season s opener on March 23. Both Drivers twice world Champion Nelson Piquet of Brazil and Nigel Mansell of England have High Praise for the car the press material said. Piquet who tested it recently in Rio de Janerio Brazil said i m not joking when i say that it is at least three seconds a Lap quicker than the fw-10 last year s car. The Honda engineers have done a fantastic Job. The latest engines ran reliably throughout the test week and the Chassis has much More grip than any car 1 can remember since the 1981 ground effects Brabham. In fact my biggest problem at Rio was getting used to the High cornering forces  the new car was constructed by the 95-member work Force at Williams recently expanded custom built factory at Didcot England where the Honda engines will be maintained during the racing season. With so much committed and with so much at stake the team must carry on but without Williams to Lead it one can Only wonder How. Where to go this weekend in Auto racing the Silverstone circuit near Northampton England will stage championship car races on sunday with events for formula 2000 and formula 1600 cars plus races for sports cars and touring cars. Practice will be held on saturday. At the Bockenheim circuit in Germany there is racing on saturday for formula 3 cars formula Fords Renault 5s, touring cars and sports cars. In motorcycling Mears while the 39th International grass track races will open the German championship season on sunday at Hassloch Between Speyer and Neustad with Many of the world s Best gras Bahn riders on the entry list. Practice begins at 2 30 . On saturday and continues through 6  while sunday s program starts at 10 . With official qualifying heats. Racing starts at 1 30 . Twenty events Are planned for sunday including races for Solo riders and for Cycle Sidecar teams in Motocross racing the 23rd annual adar Moto Cross Bausch Heim will be held on sunday with Moto Cross races for cycles in classes 125cc up to 500cc. This Moto is the second round in the German super Cross trophy series. The town of Bausch Heim is located just Southeast of Mainz. Please note that this column will not appear again until the april 2 and april 3 editions so Check the sports Calendar listings in stripes Magazine to Sec what motor sports events you May want to attend. The stars and stripes Usa eur skiers dominate All service meet Garmisch Germany Usa eur skiers swept three individual crowns in tuesday s opening giant slalom event but the army skiers had to rely on domination of its men s open races to Post a substantial Lead in the All service ski championship team Competition. Bill Sternhagen easily captured the men s open Crown Veteran Brian Skinner posted a time beaten Only by Sternhagen in taking the seniors Crown and Brooke Mey ers once again was in a class by herself in taking the women s event for the 35-Gate, two run Competition on a 1,105-meter Kan Dahar course that had a vertical drop of 240 meters. Steve Carter took a big Lead then Hung on to Edge Joe Truman of Usa eur for the masters Crown the Only one going to Safe skiers. The team scoring would have been very close had it not been for an extremely Strong display by the Usa eur men s open team. As it turned out Usa eur wound up the Day with 71 Points and Safe had 49. The Navy coming with a 12-person aggregation and High Hopes failed to break the top six in any category and wound up with no Points. Scoring was on the basis of 11-8-5-3-2-1 Points for the first six places. With the fog lifting tuesday and skiers Able to operate under near Ideal conditions for the first time in several Days Sternhagen started with an impressive 1 08.17 first run and a Lead of 0.47 seconds Over runner up and teammate Tim Fisk. The Champion followed with a Best of the Day 1 07.99 and 2 16.16 aggregate that Fisk simply could t match. The latter wound up with 2 18.42 for the two runs after adding a 1 09.38 to his 1 09.04 first run. Usa eur also grabbed the next three places with Dennis Handley third in 2 20.04, Bradley Glauthier fourth at 2 22.17 and James Barney fifth with 2 21.17. John Yirrell kept Safe from being blanked with a sixth place finish in 2 22.11. That gave the army team a 29-1 Edge in the men s open which More than made up for a Small deficit it compiled in the other three divisions. Safe had 17-13 margins in the masters 40 and Over and women s divisions and trailed Only 16-14 in these Nioras 30-39 Competition. The old reliable Skinner turned it on with his first run a 1 08.99, the second Best sin Gle run of the Day then followed with a 1 09.26 for his 2 18.25 total. Richard Turk of Safe competed in the seniors for the first time and gave a Good account of himself with steady 1 09.51 and 1 09.95 runs for his 2 19.46. But Skinner s excellent Start was too much to overcome. Michael Diedrich of Usa eur and Graham Smith of Safe staged a close Battle for third with Diedrich having a slight Edge in each run to Triumph 2 26.09 to 2 26.82. Carter started with a 1 18 95 for a solid Lead of 2.37 seconds but nearly lost the masters Crown As Truman blitzed Home in 1 17.43, Best of the Day in the division. Car Ter wound up with 1 19.54 for his second run and a 2 38.49 to the 2 38.75 for runner up Truman. Alan Daines of Safe continuing to have a Good season finished third with 2 41.74. Meyers was Superb in taking the women s Crown with 2 32.53, a margin of Over seven seconds Over runner up Ginette Betke of Safe. Opening with a 1 15.99 first run Meyers added a 1 16.54, both runs being better than any posted by masters entries and besting times recorded by Many of these Nioras skiers. Betke who was unable to compete Here last year returned strongly with runs of 1 20.65 and 1 18.90 for 2 39.55 to Lead us afe s 2-3-4 and 6 finish. Monica Powell was third in 2 51.97, overtaking teammate Deborah Namdar who wound up with at 2 55.92. Fifth was Teresa Godlaski of Usa eur in 2 57.06. Best Navy competitor was Bruce Stryker who was tied for seventh in the seniors Competition with 2 43.59. Competition continues with a slalom which will be run on the Horn slope wednesday on a course with 46 or 47 Gates according to tournament director Laurel Morrow of Safe sports office which is hosting this year s meet