Deaths Of Four Sportsmen

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31726, 9 July 1968, Page 15

Deaths Of Four Sportsmen

Two side-car competitors were killed in. Belgium, a motorracing driver was killed in France, and an Australian Rules footballer died, all at the week-end, and all after accidents in sporting events, N.Z. P.A.-Reuter reports.

A motor-cycling side-car champion, J. Attenberger, and his passenger. J. Schillinger. both West Germans, were killed on Sunday as they triec to seize victory in a neck-and-neck finish in the Belgian world championship grand prix. They shot off the road in a straight stretch aboard their 8.M.W.-RS while attempting to overtake their arch rivals, G. Auerbacher and H. Hahn, also of West Germany, during the last lap. Auerbacher, driving a 8.M.W., won the race to take first place in the riders’ world championship table equal with his dead rival, Attenberger. He covered the 70 miles In 38min 39.55ec, an average speed of 108.78 m.p.h. Attenberger lost control of his machine and was thrown over the heads of spectators into nearby gardens, officials said. DRIVER KILLED A French racing driver, J. Schlesser, was killed and 10 spectators injured in a fiery crash during the French Grand Prix, won at Rouen on Sunday by the Belgian driver, J. Ickx. Schlesser, aged 40, competing in his first formula one grand prix for eight years, died instantly when his Japanese experimental Honda exploded after striking a bank and somersaulting twice. Ten spectators in the packed crowd were treated for second-degree burns. The accident came in only the second lap as Schlesser approached a tight hairpin bend known as “New World Corner.” An eye-witness said he appeared to lose control on the wet track. The car twisted through the

air and landed in a blaze on the side of the road. Officials rushed to the rescue but it was several minutes before they could pull Schlesser’s body from the red-hot wreck. FIRST DRIVE

Schlesser, married with a 12-year-old daughter, was driving for Honda for the first time. In recent years, his motor racing had been confined to sports prototype events.

The light-weight car, which has a new V 8 air-cooled engine; was a late entry for the grand prix, filling a gap left when the American, D. Gurney, scratched from the event after practice on Friday evening. The car’s entry caused a row within the Honda camp. J. Surtees, the firm’s No. 1 driver, tested the sleek white-and-red model for only the first time last week.

After hearing that Honda Intended to race the car, Surtees told reporters: “The car needs to be properly developed and this is the wrong way to go about it.” Surtees, who finished second in the rain-swept race, refused to comment after the event and Honda officials would not discuss the crash beyond saying that the car had not been fitted with the best possible tyres for the wet conditions. Schlesser was the fourth

major driver killed this year. J. Clark (Britain) died in a race at Hockenheim, West Germany, on April 7. M. Spence, also of Britain, died after crashing during practice for the Indianapolis 500 race on May 8. An Italian, L. Scarfiotti, was killed at Berchtasgaden, West Germany, on June 8 after crashing during practice for a mountain race. Ickx (Ferrari) won the French Grand Prix. Surtees (Britain, Honda) was second, and another Briton, J. Stewart (Matra-Ford) was third.

V. Elford (Britain) in his first grand prix, drove a Cooper B.R.M. to fourth place. D. Hulme (New Zealand), driving a McLaren, was fifth, P. Courage (Britain) in a B.R.M. was sixth, and B. McLaren (New Zealand), in a Ford, was eighth. FOOTBALL INJURY J. Larsen, an Australian rules footballer who suffered severe injuries in a match nine days before, died in the Bendigo Hospital on Sunday night. Larsen, aged 19, of North Bendigo, about 70 miles north-west of Melbourne, was injured when he crashed to the ground after taking a mark in a local football match. HAILWOOD HURT The British motor-cycling ace, M. Hailwood, was slightly Injured when he fell from his machine in the first lap of the European mountainclimbing championship near Mendrisio, in Switzerland, on Sunday. He was released from hospital after treatment, a member of the hospital staff said Hailwood’s fall came after he had beaten the Monte Generoso course record in a practice lap. The photograph shows the experimental car in which Schlesser was killed In the French Grand Prix.