Hungaroring will host the Formula 1 Hungarian GP this weekend. However, 26 years ago, the circuit was also the scene of one of the most unusual episodes in the category’s history: Taki Inoue being run over by the medical car.
Read more F1: The numbers and curiosities of Hungaroring, venue of the Hungarian GP
The season was 1995 and the stop in Hungary was the tenth of the championship. That year, the Japanese driver defended Footwork-Arrows and started from 18th position on the grid after setting a time of 1min22s081 in qualifying.
The start was authorized at Hungaroring, but Inoue wouldn’t stay on track for long. The reason was that on the 13th lap, his car’s engine blew and caught fire, forcing him to stop in the run-off area and prematurely ending his race.
What happened next was worthy of a ‘slapstick comedy’, as Reginaldo Leme, a Globo commentator at the time, described it: the competitor went out to get the fire extinguisher to put out the flames, but entered the path of the medical car, a Czech Tatra623 model, and ended up being run over.
Read more F1: Audi wants to finish the first part of the season on a high note
In the incident, he rolled over the hood and suffered only minor injuries to his left leg, recovering well for the next race on the calendar, the Belgian GP. At the end of the 1995 season, his first and last in Formula 1, he finished with zero points.
The most curious thing is that this was not the first bizarre incident involving Inoue in the 1995 season. The first happened at the Monaco GP, when after his Footwork had problems, it was being towed to the pits, but ended up being hit by Jean Ragnotti and rolled into the barriers.
In one of the more bizarre moments in F1 history, Footwork’s Taki Inoue suffered minor injuries after being hit by a medical car…
Read more F1: Hungarian GP could mark another chapter in the relationship between Hamilton and Hungaroring
Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring, 13 August 1995.#F1 pic.twitter.com/JLgTaslebh
— F1 Nostalgia 🏁 (@_F1_Retro) August 13, 2022
