1994 CART Phoenix Matsushita/Villeneuve Crash

[methodben23]

I was there when this happend! I was 13 and looking through my dad's binoculars at Hiros' car then came Jaques' car slam into Hiro. Crazy I found this video. Thanks for the upload! I sure miss these days!

[km10nner]

5 $ to sit on Hillside bac n 94'

[km10nner]

was there and saw it all from hillside- amazing. how these drivers walk away frm crashes like this and then they're were some that didn't. And they don't call them athletes?

[Dominik0366]

1:34 'Matshusta.'

[harryspen]

jaques villeneuve is not a worthy indy 500 winner he relly didnt desvere that f1 championship in 97 i aboustly despise the guy

[nathanhuth]

This commentator sounds very familiar from my childhood. What is his name?

[RageousMode]

@nathanhuth Paul Page

[km10nner]

spotter was nappin! was there for that race -hillside.

[JJemo97]

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! HOW DID DAT HAPPEN???

[XxdubsxX]

paul page needs to go back to open wheel commentatory

[GoFeri]

@XxdubsxX Is he still doing NHRA?

[steveo7220phx]

please come back to phoenix

[plankboi]

i was horrified when i was watching this race and seen this happen. this is why i consider jockvie the worst driver ever. and thats saying alot considering hiro sucks bad too. at least hiro is still alive unlike the poor fan who lost his life to jockvies flying tire.

[Canadian9761]

That wasn't Villeneuves' fault, Webber slowed down in front of Villeneuve without warning. Noone could have avoided him.

[plankboi]

do all canadians blindly defend canadian sports stars and famous people?

[bduddy55555]

Are you kidding? Jacques has absolutely no excuse for going that fast. He's lucky he didn't kill anyone.

[Canadian9761]

I was talking about an incident in his Formula 1 career.

[sexygirl1678]

he never meant to di it

[PeterMayer]

Dominic Dobson..now in the "where are they now file".

[steveinSCA]

I was at this race. Villeneuve absolutely obliterated Matsushita's car. The unluckiest guy in the incident was Dominic Dobson, who was running incredibly well, and then got clipped by the missile that Villeneuve created when he cracked Hiro.

[DLFerrariFan]

KING HIRO!

[jurzack19]

This still ranks with one of the dumbest moves in CART history.

[harryspen]

whart the furk

[khrisinfo]

Crash at cart phoenix .Now nascar crash a lot

at phoenix.cartrules!!!!

[khrisinfo]

MY fist indy/cart race i see in year 1995 on TV.Than it rules!!!!and rocks!!!! nice showing

champcar4ever .

[JuanKyam]

Nasty

[jazzbo1974]

the guy he hit is the crappiest driver in cart to date he was a driving chicane as they called him and a nick name of king hiro lol only reason he had a ride was his family own or part owneed panasoinc

[MonacoLager1]

Matsushita earned the nickname "King Hiro" from Emerson Fittipaldi, who was complaining about Hiro's reluctance to cede track position when getting lapped by the leaders. The nickname came about as a result of Emerson's habit of pressing the "talk" button on his radio about half a second after he'd started speaking, thereby cutting off the first syllable of the first word he used. Fittipaldi, allegedly, had intended to say "Fucking Hiro!"

[fueldragster]

If Hiro was on the track by himself, he would still go a lap down :)

[alexcool79]

Aim, i don´t think he had enough time. It was just luck.

[katm6]

Everybody else (a good four cars, if you watch carefully, pass the accident) had enough time to move down the track and slow down. The yellow light had been on for sufficient time. JV was exceptionally lucky he didn't kill Hiro or PT. And I don't care of Hiro was a horrible driver, he was actually very good about getting out of the way and he didn't deserve to be T-boned.

[zxcv1234vcxz]

Villeneuve screwed up by not slowing for the yellow, but he did one thing right: at the end, he chose to aim for the engine of Matsushita's car.

If JV had maintained his line and crashed into the tub of HM's car, Matsushita would be dead. By aiming for the engine, JV put most of the kinetic energy into the cars, not the drivers, that's why HM only had a sore left shoulder.

[coolconman1]

Yeah, but also look at what happened in Nascar. Mike Harmon hits the wall, the car is split in half, and than he is hit by Johnny Sauter. Seconds later, Harmon emerges from the crash unharmed.

[jbracer86]

i agree, if JV had hit the tub, it would have been very similar to the crash that happened to Alex Zanardi in which he lost both his legs.

[zxcv1234vcxz]

Before the five second mark, you can see Villeneuve's car continuing smoothly around left, and then *just* before he hits, at 0:05, the car flicks to the right, hitting the engine of Matsushita's car. That was a deliberate act.

[cj52racers]

You are a fucking moron. He was behind a car and those two cars in front were jockeying for position so Jacques whipped it wide to make the overtake around both of them. He was shielded by those two cars and could not see the incident. Poor spotting if you ask me.

[panik808]

Jaques was still an idiot as the yellow flags were already waving before he came into the corner. There was no reason for him to still be running at speed.

[cj52racers]

How about this, you go out in your car, go 170 around a 1.5 mile oval and while you are trying to pass someone, look around for some yellow flags. It is spotting that is supposed to alert him of incidents. He is focused on driving. They should be telling him there is in incident coming out of the last corner, he cant be looking in the stands for yellow flags.

[panik808]

If everyone else slowed down why didn't he. What did he think the cars were going slow to let him pass.

[one43racing]

@panik808

Your nickname should be "spread-panic"

How the hell should JV view through 2 cars in front??? When they, with clear view slowed down, he only concentrates on overtaking them!!! Not on the outside waved yellow flags... The boys are there for racing and not cruising to a coffee-shop!!! Stop talking bull-s**t, if your not able to realism...

[panik808]

@one43racing I don't have to ask how dumb you are, the comments you make say it all, the yellow flags were waving and the lights were flashing for sometime long enough for everyone to slow down, don't worry i forgive you for your ignorance.

[villeneuve2fast4you]

@one43racing caint agree more champ....well said ;-)

[jraybay]

@panik808 There are a couple things you should know. after the drivers meeting he said the yellow was hard to see and in this wreck he was really only aware of the yellow towards the end of the backstraight and the data from this accident actually shows him braking before the scene of the accident and when he locks up he hits at just over 100mph. he's not going at racing speed here.

[indyfan2]

Poor Villeneuve, He had no grip along with fellow canadian PT. This is the biggest wreck I've ever seen along with all of these videos at PIR.