INQUEST RULES MECHANIC’S TEST TRACK DEATH WAS ACCIDENTAL
Tributes paid to “hugely popular” Double R mechanic who was killed in F3 shakedown run
Double R Racing principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt has described the team’s late mechanic JJ Wilson as “a wonderful person” after an inquest jury ruled last week that his death in a testing crash was accidental.
Wilson, 23, died when the
BRDC British Formula 3 Tatuus he was shaking down hit a concrete block during the final lap of a test run at Longcross Studios near Chertsey on February 21 last year. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The jury of seven women and four men concluded its verdict following a three-day inquest at Woking Coroner’s Court.
“It was a nightmare when it happened and it’s still a nightmare now – it’s incomprehensible,” Hieatt told MN. “It’s still difficult to put into words, and it’s the hardest thing that’s even happened to me.”
Hieatt added that Wilson was an accomplished test driver “and that he had a good little karting career for seven or eight years before he started with us”.
“He was a wonderful person,” said Hieatt. “I never met anybody who spoke badly of him. He was a master technician, a master mechanic, and a really gifted driver as well. He was ready to move onto bigger and better things. He was a legend; hugely popular.”
The inquest heard that the wishbone broke away from the chassis, causing a loss of control. Accident investigator David Price carried out an examination of the car, and said the “failure to tighten the bolt to its correct torque would seem the most probable cause”.
Analysis of the test laps revealed Wilson reached speeds of 137mph in the moments before the collision – nearly double the speed limit at the test track.
In a concluding statement, the jury said: “During his final lap, control of the car was lost. The car skidded off the right-hand side of the track, hitting the concrete lighting block. He crashed into trees and the car turned over.
His colleagues went to assist and righted the car. The paramedics cut the straps and took JJ out of the car. CPR was performed but they were unable to revive him due to his head and neck injuries.”
The Longcross venue has since stopped allowing single-seaters without cockpit protection from testing at its track.
The inquest heard Wilson was wearing “normal work clothes”, mechanics’ gloves, and approved race helmet and boots while completing the test run.
At the inquest, Hieatt said Wilson was “extremely competent” and he “had never seen him drive recklessly before”. “JJ had been around forms of motor racing since he was a young boy,” he added. “I was happy with his level of ability to do it [the shakedown]. The cars are extremely expensive – the last thing I would want is for them to be ruined.”
When asked why Wilson may have been driving so quickly, Hieatt said there may have been “a bit of complacency” or that he “wanted to finish the job quickly”.
Double R engineer Peter Sliwinski, who was predominantly responsible for building the gearbox, explained that it is customary for a mechanic to be assigned his own car, which is “self-checked”. But examinations after the crash revealed there was “a nearside front upper suspension bolt missing”.
A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was “blunt head and neck trauma”. Assistant coroner Anna Loxton said she was “concerned” that fire-retardant overalls were not required to be worn for testtrack driving and will write a prevention of future death report to the Health and Safety Executive. But she said “it is clear that the clothing he was wearing did not contribute to the death”.
In a statement, Wilson’s family said: “Quite simply, JJ was a good child, knowing the difference between right and wrong from an early age.
“JJ was such a happy and special person to be around – he was not short of friends. He was a truly loyal friend and would do anything for anyone if they asked him.
“The effect of losing JJ cannot be put into words. As parents, we could not have asked for a better son. JJ was kind, polite, funny, hardworking and a loving person. The void left by JJ’S death will never be filled.”
Wilson had worked on Double R’s F3 European Championship machinery before switching to British F3, where he was mechanic to Matheus Leist when he won the 2016 title. He was to have worked on the car of Linus Lundqvist, who went on to claim the 2018 crown. “We’ve been running stickers on our cars to remember JJ,” Hieatt told MN. “We just want to remember him in a good way.” Additional reporting by Marcus Simmons