Cameraman escapes wheel drama.
An employee working for Bernie Ecclestone's digital television channel had a narrow escape yesterday, as a wheel from a crashed car cleared the armco.
The cameraman was covering the second Thursday practice session when Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Prost approaching his position. Despite a valiant attempt to save the car, Heidfeld was powerless to prevent it hitting the barriers at La Rascasse, and the impact ripped two wheels from the errant machine.
An employee working for Bernie Ecclestone's digital television channel had a narrow escape yesterday, as a wheel from a crashed car cleared the armco.
The cameraman was covering the second Thursday practice session when Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Prost approaching his position. Despite a valiant attempt to save the car, Heidfeld was powerless to prevent it hitting the barriers at La Rascasse, and the impact ripped two wheels from the errant machine.
One of these somehow found enough momentum to clear the protective barrier, and headed straight for the luckless lensman. Only quick thinking and an active self-preservation instinct prevented a second collision in as many seconds and the cameraman, like Heidfeld was able to walk away from the incident largely unscathed. In true professional style, however, the camera kept rolling to give viewers a close-up of the action!
Heidfeld was not the only driver to lose it at La Rascasse, with Pedro Diniz also writing off a car there during the session. Gaston Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Alex Wurz all also hit visited the barriers at some point.
