The Dutch Grand Prix 1973. Watch David Purley a true hero!
During the race, Roger Williamson suffered a sudden tyre deflation, which pitched his car into the barriers at high speed and catapulted it 300 yards (275 metres) across the track, eventually coming to rest upside down against the barriers on the other side, during which his petrol tank had ignited while being scraped along the track. A fire began to take hold and Williamson was unable to extricate himself. Fellow driver and friend David Purley, although not a teammate of Williamson's, abandoned his own race in a desperate and valiant attempt to rescue him. Williamson had not been seriously injured by the impact, and was heard shouting to Purley to get him out of the car as Purley tried in vain to turn the car upright. Initially the commentators on Dutch TV, race control and some of the other drivers participating in the race assumed that it was Purley's car that had crashed and that the driver had escaped unharmed. As a result the race continued at full pace while Purley desperately tried to save the life of his friend.
The fire marshals stationed at the corner where the accident occurred were both poorly trained and badly equipped, and it was left to Purley to snatch the sole fire extinguisher and attempt to put out the fire. The marshals, who were not wearing flame retardant overalls, stood by as the fire spread, awaiting the arrival of the fire truck, which had to navigate across the track while the race was still in progress. The fire was relatively small for at least three minutes and there was more than ample time to right the car and pull Williamson out, but as desperately as he tried, Purley was unable to do it by himself. In what was seen by many as the most shocking aspect of the incident, one of the marshals tried to pull Purley away from the wreck as the helpless Williamson remained trapped. Some spectators, appalled at the seeming indifference of the marshals to Williamson's plight, tried to breach the safety fences in order to help Purley, but were pushed back by track security staff with dogs. It was some eight minutes before the first fire truck arrived on the scene. By the time the car was eventually righted, and the fire extinguished, Williamson had died of asphyxiation.
A blanket was thrown over the burnt out wreck with Williamson still inside, and the race carried on.
It was arguably one the saddest days in Grand Prix history. The loss of Williamson was representative of so many other deaths and serious injuries of drivers of that era, and it was the first time that such a dramatic and tragic event at a race was televised live to so many people. The accident publicly exposed the failings in Grand Prix safety at the time, and was further ammunition for those like Jackie Stewart to use in their campaign to make Grand Prix racing safer. Niki Lauda was reported after the race to have felt "sick with guilt" that nobody had been willing or able to give Purley help.
Williamson participated in two Grands Prix, debuting on July 14, 1973. He did not score any championship points.
Photographs taken by Cor Mooij of the reaction of David Purley were awarded the World Press Photo for sports in 1974. In 2003, on the 30th anniversary of his fatal crash, a bronze statue of Roger Williamson was unveiled at the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire, England. Then-owner Tom Wheatcroft had provided financial backing to Williamson, and described the day Williamson died as "the saddest day of my life".