Motor Racing NEAR ESCAPE FROM DEATH

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29893, 6 August 1962, Page 3

Motor Racing NEAR ESCAPE FROM DEATH

Hill Crashes At 140 m.p.h. (N.Z.P .A.-Reuter—Copyright) NUERBURGRING (West Germany), Aug. 5. Graham Hill, the British racing driver, was unhurt after what he described as "my closest escape from death” in a 140 m.p.h. crash on Friday. He is a definite starter for the German Grand Prix world championship motor race today. His B.R M. car was wrecked in the crash, but he went out tn a second B.R.M. car yesterday and put up the third fastest time of the day. The 33-year-old Hill, current leader in the world driver's championship, said after his practice lap on a wet track: “I will definitely race.” Hill said the crash occurred after an automatic television camera fell off another car on to the track.

“I was coming down on a very fast section of the circuit, doing about 140 miles an hour, when these bits of the TV camera were lying in the road. “There was nowhere else to go—l had to run over them. An oil pipe burst and I spur, into the ditch. The car careered along the ditch for about 100 yards before I could stop it." Bruce McLaren (New Zealand) had the seventh fastest lap time of 9min 28.1 sec tn the final trials yesterday, and will be in the second row. Jack Brabham (Australia). with lOmin 21.6 sec, will be in the seventh row.