Tom Pryce F1 Fatal Crash F1 1977 Kyalami HD HQ New Footage
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On lap 22, the Shadow car of Italian driver Renzo Zorzi retired from the race with engine failure. Moments after the car came to a halt on a blind brow, the engine caught fire. Reacting to the emergency, two teenage fire marshals ran across the track to put out the blaze with extinguishers as the race continued. At that moment, cars driven by Pryce and Hans-Joachim Stuck suddenly crested the rise. Stuck's leading car swerved narrowly missing the first marshal but Pryce, who was unsighted behind the German, had no time to react before hitting the second marshall, Jansen Van Vuuren. The high-speed collision completed decapitated the 19-year-old marshal throwing body parts into the air. But as the accident happened, the fire extinguisher that Van Vuuren had been carrying smashed into Pryce's head. The impact had such force that it tore off Pryce's protective helmet causing the chin strap to almost decapitate the driver. The Shadow car with Pryce on board then continued on down the main straight until it finally left the track at the first corner taking the Ligier of Jacques Laffite out of the race in the process. Van Vurren's body was completely dismembered. He was officially identified by his absence when the race director had accounted for all of his remaining colleagues.