Tom Pryce

] Pryce showed other signs of promise during the season, most notably in Monaco and Britain where he qualified on the front row of the grid, the latter being in pole position. Pryce also achieved his first World Championship podium finish, in extremely wet conditions at the Austrian Grand Prix and finished in the points four more times. The highest of those came in Germany where he finished fourth, despite the fact that fuel had been leaking into the cockpit of his DN5 during the final laps around the Nürburgring, reportedly "searing his skin and almost blinding him with fumes". Oxygen pipes were used to prevent drivers being suffocated if they were trapped in the car in a fire.]

The situation caused two marshals from the pit wall on the opposite side of track to intervene. The first marshal to cross the track was a 25-year old panel beater named William (Bill). The second was 19-year old Frederik Jansen Van Vuuren, commonly known as Jansen Van Vuuren, who was carrying a 40 lb fire extinguisher. George Witt, the chief pit marshal for the race, said that the policy of the circuit was that in circumstances involving fires, two marshals must attend and a further two act as back-up in case their extinguishers were not effective enough. Witt also recalled that both Bill and Van Vuuren crossed the track without prior permission.cite book |last=Tremayne|authorlink=David Tremayne|title=Lost Gen. |accessdate=2007-01-05|pages=p. 239] The former made it safely across the track, the latter did not. As the two young men started to run across the track, four cars driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck, Pryce, Jacques Laffite and Gunnar Nilsson were exiting the final corner and coming onto the main straight.

Pryce was directly behind Stuck's car along the main straight, Stuck himself sensed Van Vuuren and moved to the right to avoid both marshals, missing Bill by what Tremayne reports to have been a matter of "millimetres". From his position behind Stuck, Pryce could not see Van Vuuren and was unable to react as fast as Stuck. He struck the teenage marshal at approximately 170 mph. Van Vuuren was thrown into the air and landed yards in front of Zorzi and Bill. He died upon impact with Pryce's car.cite book |last=Tremayne|authorlink=David Tremayne|title=Lost Gen.|accessdate=2007-01-05 |pages=234] The fire extinguisher smashed into Pryce's head, before striking the Shadow's roll hoop, which threw it over the adjacent grandstand. It came to earth in the car park to the rear of the stand, where it hit a parked car and jammed its door shut.cite book |last=Tremayne |first= David|authorlink=David Tremayne|title=Lost Gen.|pages=p. 235]

The impact with the extinguisher had wrenched Pryce's helmet upward, and he had been partially decapitated by the strap. Death was almost certainly instantaneous. Pryce's Shadow DN8, now without a driver or a roll hoop, continued down the main straight towards the first corner, "Crowthorne", coasting slowly. The Shadow left the track towards the right, scraping the metal barriers before veering back onto the track after hitting an entrance for emergency vehicles. The Shadow then hit Laffite's Ligier putting the latter out of the race. As for Van Vuuren, the injuries to his body were so severe that he was identified only by exclusion after the race director summoned all of the race marshals and Van Vuuren was not among them. [cite web |url=http://www.historicracing.com/top100.cfm?driverID=1077 | title=Historic Racing > Tom Pryce | accessdate=2006-11-23 |publisher=HistoricRacing.com |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070305172128/http://www.historicracing.com/top100.cfm?driverID=1077 |archivedate=2006-04-24 |quote= ]

The eventual race winner was Austrian Niki Lauda, his first win since his near fatal accident during the 1976 German Grand Prix. He later announced it was the greatest victory of his career, but was told on the podium of Pryce's death and said that "there was no joy after that".cite book |last=Tremayne|authorlink=David Tremayne|title=Lost Gen.|accessdate=2007-01-05|pages=p. 239]

Aftermath

[
Anglesey Circuit has one of its straights named after Pryce.]

Pryce's death was met with grief from all those who knew him during his career, none more so than his wife Nella, his parents Jack and Gwyneth and the Shadow team. His body was buried at St Bartholomew's Church in Otford, near Sevenoaks, Kent, [cite web |url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=121&GSvcid=4821&GRid=12907252& |title=Find a Grave > Tom Pryce |accessdate=2006-11-21 |date=2006-01-26 |publisher=FindaGrave.com |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070305172822/http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12907252 |archivedate=2006-06-01 |quote= ] the same church where he and Nella were married two years earlier.

Pryce's performances in a Formula One car had earned him a lot of respect among the F1 paddock. Most notable was David Tremayne, who named his son after the Welshman.cite web
url=http://www.carkeys.co.uk/features/books/11708.asp
title=The Lost Generation" book review > Tom Pryce
accessdate=2006-11-06
last=Finlay |first=David
date=2006-10-23 |work=
publisher=CarKeys.co.uk
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carkeys.co.uk%2Ffeatures%2Fbooks%2F11708.asp&date=2008-01-08 |archivedate= 2008-01-08
quote= ] An award was also instigated in Pryce's name, the "Tom Pryce Award" also known as the "Tom Pryce Trophy", given annually to Welsh personalities having made an outstanding contribution to motoring or transport.cite web
title=Tom Pryce Trophy
url=http://www.motoringwriters.com/Tom_Pryce_Trophy/Tom_Pryce_Trophy.htm
publisher=Welsh Group of Motoring Writers]

In January 2007, the Ruthin Town Council expressed an interest in erecting a statue of Tom Pryce in the Vale of Clwyd, to mark the 30th anniversary of his death, and have asked the general public for suggestions.cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6251329.stm |title=Memorial for racing driver Pryce |accessdate=2007-01-22 |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-01-17 ] The redeveloped Anglesey Race Circuit has named part of the track "The Tom Pryce Straight" after him. [cite web |url=http://www.angleseycircuit.com/news.html |title=Angelsey Circuit - News |accessdate=2007-03-07|year=2007|publisher=Angelsey Circuit ]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

Books

*cite book | last = Gill | first = Barrie (ed.) | coauthors = | title = The World Championship 1975 - John Player Motorsport yearbook 1976 | publisher = Queen Anne Press Ltd. | year = 1976 | id = ISBN 0-362-00254-1
*cite book| last = Tremayne
first = David
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Racers Apart: Memories of motorsport heroes
publisher = Motor Racing Publications Ltd
year = 1991
location = UK
pages = 293
isbn = 0947981586
*cite book |last=Tremayne |first= David|authorlink=David Tremayne |title=The Lost Generation |origyear= 2006 |origmonth=August |publisher= Haynes Publishing |isbn=1-84425-205-1

Notes

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from:
*"Official Formula One Website. Archive: Results for 1974–1977 seasons" [http://www.formula1.com/archive/driver/detail/1974/377/93.html Formula1.com] . Retrieved 11 January 2007

Persondata
NAME=Thomas Maldwyn Pryce
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Tom Pryce,
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Deceased Racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH=11 June 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales
DATE OF DEATH=5 March 1977
PLACE OF DEATH=Kyalami, South Africa