Quote:
Originally Posted by drledford93
I know they ran toluene up through 90 or 91, because Berger's accident at San Marino in 1989 caused both burns from the fire and chemical burns from the fuel. The fuelers had to wear full chemical suits, as I remember ESPN showing the fueling process, and I was fascinated as a sixteen-year-old watching it.
The qualifying engines from at least the turbo era were absolute monsters. By 1986 they were getting over 1600 horsepower (some reported more) out of 1.5 L Turbo 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines. Riccardo Patrese was famously quoted as saying when your accelerated you had roughly 700 horsepower and then instantly you had an additional thousand when the turbo hit. I couldn't possibly imagine!
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I just looked up the accident you mentioned and man was that a bad shunt. Very surprised he walked away from it considering the speed at which he hit the wall AND how long he was in the car when it was in flames. I tried to look up the chemical suits you mentioned but couldnt find any photos unfortunately. There must have been a stark contrast between them and the pit crews of the other teams. IIRC, in the 80's the pit crew were still wearing T-Shirts during pit stops.
An instant addition of a thousand horsepower, that must have been one hell of a kick! We're a bit spoiled these days by how far turbocharger technology has come. Looking back on it now, having an abrupt power increase that significant must have been very annoying (for a lack of a better work), lap after lap.