22/10/2009
FEATURE BY GLEN CROMPTON
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At the 2001 Melbourne Grand Prix a volunteer marshal, died when he was struck by a wheel that detached from Jacques Villeneuve's BAR. In the events that followed a doctor acting in accordance with an FIA based agreement nearly lost his career. The FIA were nowhere to be seen as this man who saves lives for a living was persecuted. That, dear FIA voting members is the sage precedent exemplifying what you can expect by way of support if it all goes pear shaped after you cast a ballot in favour of Jean Todt.
In my previous articles on the subject of the upcoming FIA elections I have repeatedly harped on about the legal obligations of those who will vote under their local jurisdictions. I have done so because the prevailing climate of the FIA elections is such that I find it hard to discount the suspicion that improper pressure or inducement has been applied by those aligned to the Todt campaign and among whom number the current FIA president Max Mosley.
I have been at pains to make it clear that many countries whose representatives will decide the new president of the FIA and his team have firm laws governing corruption of any kind which carry serious penalties including jail.
What follows is a story that should strike fear into the heart of any voting FIA member who is not adhering to the confines of their own judicial system.
It is a story of man whose career was nearly destroyed for acting in accordance with an agreement based on FIA guidelines. When this man was hauled before local authorities, the FIA were nowhere to be found. Max may well have sat staring out his office window as the career of a committed doctor was called into question.
Before you read any further, I strongly suggest your regard the contents of both of the following links. The first is the local news story that precipitated the persecution of the fellow in question and the second is findings of the medical board.
Article 2 - Medical Practioners Board of Victoria (pdf file)
Doctor David Vissenga is a respected doctor and by all accounts a decent man. The 'crime' that so nearly cost him his career was that of heading the medical team at Albert Park in 2001.There is, in this horrid business, no allegation that the actions of any medical staff altered the outcome. Indeed it would seem that extraordinary efforts were made by skilled doctors above and beyond the call. The controversy centred on the declared time of death and the alleged alteration of medical notes by track medical staff to comply with the agreement hewn under FIA guidelines.
It is a theme all too familiar from Imola in 1994. Historical records reveal that the catastrophic trauma suffered by Ayrton Senna resulted in instant death. I still have an email from a friend who was there describing the CPR performed on the Brazilian as he was loaded into the medical helicopter as a charade. Footage of the first marshals on the scene underscore the hopelessness of the tragedy. None the less Senna was treated and airlifted to a nearby hospital before officially being officially certified.
F1's rulers do not appear to approve of a death at their Grand's Prix and seem to have formed guidelines to avoid as much. I tried to find the guidelines referred to in the medical board document above on the FIA website but I guess I am not special enough to be allowed to see them. So much for transparency.
Doctor David Vissenga was a victim of these very guidelines and the FIA did nothing to support him.
Remember that FIA voters before you cast a skewed vote.