Driver’s Injuries, Amon Protests

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31365, 10 May 1967, Page 21

Driver’s Injuries, Amon Protests

(N.i. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. New Zealand racing driver, C. Amon, has condemned the lack of fire-fighting equipment on European racing circuits, the “Sun” reported.

In an Interview In Monte Carlo, Amon, a Ferrari works driver, said that the fire in which his team-mate, L. Bandlni, of Italy, was burned on

Sunday should never have happened. “And it must never be allowed to happen again,” Amon said.

“The fire-fighting equipment on European circuits is inadequate. There have been three big fires in races already this year with one fatality.” He said the lack of equipment and trained personnel on European tracks contrasted sharply with circuits in the United States.

The gravely injured Bandlni regained consciousness on Monday, but his condition was still serious, an official said.

Bandlni, aged 31, is in the Princess Grace of Monaco Clinic, after a 4}-hour operation to remove his spleen. He has burns over 70 per cent of his body and multiple chest fractures. Bandlni was rushed to the clinic after he was trapped for four minutes under the blazing wreckage of his Ferrari. He crashed while lying in second place behind the race’s eventual winner, the New Zealander, D. Hulme, 18 laps from the finish.