Further unease has been conjured over the use of ‘sausage kerbs’ at race tracks after a Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine driver suffered spinal injuries last weekend.
Adam Fitzgerald was forced to withdraw from the season-opening round at Imola after classifying 22nd in the first race.
His Racing Performance Motorsport (RPM) team confirmed after the race that the Irish driver sustained three fractured vertebrae in a late-race incident.
The team also stated that the car was almost completely broken in half, but expressed relief that there was no spinal cord injured.
Taking to social media shortly after the incident, RPM expressed outrage over the continued use of sausage kerbs.
“Today these crazy yellow ramps on top of the kerbs known as ‘sausage kerbs’ or ‘bananas’ claimed the spine of another driver,” it said.
“They launch the car into the air resulting in dangerous situations for the drivers. I don’t know what needs to happen next for the people to realise that these sausage kerbs have absolutely no place in Formula Motorsport.
“We wish Adam a very speedy recovery after the injuries he sustained from these kerbs today.”
Sausage kerbs have been under criticism for several years for the injuries that they have caused to drivers.
In 2021, W Series driver Abbie Eaton suffered a broken back at the Circuit of the Americas after driving over a kerb.
Eaton also expressed her anger on social media.
“Yet another driver sustains a broken spine due to sausage kerbs at Imola,” she wrote.
“FIA, I thought we were making progress with sausage kerb removal? What’s with the silence FRECA? “We need to beat the drum until change happens.”
Last year saw a dangerous incident occur in Formula 2, when Dennis Hauger’s car was launched over a kerb at Silverstone and into the side of Roy Nissany, with the Halo protecting the Israeli driver’s head.
In 2019, Formula 3 driver Alex Peroni suffered a horrific crash at Monza when a sausage kerb flipped his car into the air before it somersaulted into the crash barrier. The Australian sustained back injuries in the incident.
McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph last year, expressing his distaste for the kerbs.
“I have been critical of raised kerbs in the past, but I think it is time we acted on these warnings and removed them from our sport,” Norris said.
“With F1 cars running lower to the ground than ever, and stiffer than ever, we need to act because when these cars hit these kerbs, you do not ride them.
“You can be launched into the air. Cars can pop up, do big wheelies and then slam back down again, which can be very painful on the back.”
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