Dennis criticizes Turvey after bad Formula E training accident in Rome: "A bit stupid"
Tobias Wirtz 04/10/2021 - 2:42pm

At the end of the 1st free practice session of Formula E in Rome, as in the season opener in Diriyya, there was a serious incident: Oliver Turvey crashed at high speed into two stationary cars, all three cars took significant damage. After the session, accident victim Jake Dennis complained about the sleepiness of his compatriot in the Nio 333.

Already at Saturday's race in Diriyya, there had been a violent accident involving Edo Mortara during the obligatory starting exercises after free practice. This time, however, it was not a technical problem that led to the crash but human error: Turvey drove through the "blind" turn 6 at high speed even after time had expired, but he was surprised by the cars standing there in front of the starting line waiting for their practice start.

Turvey was unable to avoid a collision, so that in addition to his car, the cars of Jake Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne were also badly damaged. The Mahindra of Alex Lynn, who was waiting for his start practice immediately before Vergne, was also hit, so that Mahindra had to replace some parts of the car, according to team boss Dilbagh Gill.

The Nio driver Turvey had simply forgotten about the practice starts, which are a common procedure after the end of a free practice session, they say. According to the FIA's official document, when questioned by race stewards, the Briton said he was "fully aware of this procedure, but a combination of circumstances made him forget completely."
Dennis on Turvey: "He had to hit someone".

"In his defense, you have to say there was no red flag, no yellow flag, nothing," BMW driver Jake Dennis told 'Autosport'. However, he also sees Turvey as responsible: "He was obviously pushing, which is a bit stupid after a checkered flag."

But he also says the fact that the corner is blinded before the start of practice and drivers can't see what's coming after the corner had an impact on the situation. "It's not an ideal situation for a practice start," Dennis continued. "But we all knew we were going to have practice starts. He obviously just forgot. The team didn't tell him."

When Turvey finally saw the other cars, he said, it was simply too late to react in any way. "At the speed he arrived, he wouldn't have made it to the front row to stop. He had to hit someone, and it happened to be Vergne and me. When he saw us, there was nothing he could do."

Although the track in Rome is popular with drivers even in the new configuration, Dennis sees a safety risk here: "It's a completely blind corner. Even during the session I was thinking: if someone crashes here, you'll hit them for sure."
Jean-Eric Vergne: "It was a shock".

"It was the first time in my life that I didn't see a crash coming," said Jean-Eric Vergne after free practice. "It was a shock. Fortunately, I didn't have time to be afraid in advance." Although the Frenchman rubbed his neck shortly after the accident, he escaped uninjured, as did his two driver colleagues.

The race cars of Dennis and Vergne were repaired in time for qualifying. Turvey's monocoque had to be replaced, so he missed qualifying and will have to follow the field from the pit lane. The race starts at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Sat.1. We'll also be covering the race in our live ticker.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

croatic f1 je napisao/la: 10.04.2021., 16:02 Upadam ko padobranac pred utrku, što se ovo dogodilo na treningu? Turvey je uspio pogoditi i Vergnea i Dennisa? Kako?

Alen13ASC je napisao/la: 10.04.2021., 16:08 Nisu mu javili da je procedura vežbe starta, a on ZABORAVIO. To je gore o Maldonado efekta

Wehrlein94 je napisao/la: 10.04.2021., 17:04 pa Vandoorne zbilja nije normalan, tak se fino vrati među vodeće i ima brz auto i tavu grešku napravi,ma daj.... nikad od njega šampiona.