Racing drivers who died while racing

Michele_Alboreto

Michele Alboreto (Italian pronunciation: [miˈkɛːle alboˈreːto]; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races. Alboreto competed in Formula One from 1981 until 1994, racing for a number of teams, including five seasons (1984–88) for Ferrari.
His career in motorsport began in 1976, racing a car he and a number of his friends had built in the Formula Monza series. The car, however, achieved very little success and two years later Alboreto moved up to Formula Three. Wins in the Italian Formula Three championship and a European Formula Three Championship crown in 1980 paved the way for his entrance into Formula One with the Tyrrell team.
Two wins, the first in the final round of the 1982 season in Las Vegas, and the second a year later in Detroit, earned him a place with the Ferrari team. Alboreto took three wins for the Italian team and challenged Alain Prost for the 1985 Championship, eventually losing out by 20 points. The following three seasons were less successful, however, and at the end of the 1988 season, the Italian left Ferrari and re-signed with his former employers Tyrrell, where he stayed until joining Larrousse midway through 1989.
Further seasons with Footwork, Scuderia Italia and Minardi followed during the tail end of his F1 career. In 1995, Alboreto moved on to sportscars and a year later the American IndyCar series. He took his final major victories, the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours and 2001 Sebring 12 Hours, with German manufacturers Porsche and Audi, respectively. In 2001, a month after his Sebring victory, he was killed testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.

Tony_Willman

Anthony Peter Willman (February 20, 1907 West Allis, Wisconsin – October 12, 1941 Thompson, Connecticut) was an American racecar driver. He was killed in a midget car accident.

Pierre_Levegh

Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin (22 December 1905 – 11 June 1955) was a French sportsman and racing driver. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh [ləvɛk] in memory of his uncle Alfred Velghe, a pioneering driver who died in 1904. Levegh died in the 1955 Le Mans disaster which also killed 83 spectators during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans automobile race.

Lou_Webb

Louis Edward Webb (September 6, 1911 – September 2, 1940) was an American racecar driver. Predominantly racing midgets and big cars, he was killed in a AAA-sanctioned national championship race.

Bruce_Jacobi

Harold "Bruce" Jacobi (June 23, 1935 – February 4, 1987) was an American race car driver. In 1987, Jacobi, 51, died of head injuries sustained in a NASCAR race crash at the Daytona International Speedway in 1983. He had 37 USAC Champ Car starts between 1960 and 1970, with a best finish of fourth at Springfield in 1970. Jacobi also completed rookie refresher testing in preparation for the 1967 Indianapolis 500, but did not attempt to qualify.

Larry_Crockett

Larret Julian "Crash" Crockett (October 23, 1926 in Cambridge City, Indiana – March 20, 1955 in Langhorne, Pennsylvania) was an American racecar driver. Crockett made 10 Championship Car starts all in the 1954 season with a best finish of 4th in the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb which counted for National Championship points at the time and finished in 11th in the 1954 points championship. Nicknamed "Crash" because of frequent racing mishaps, Crockett qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 in 1954. He finished ninth and earned Rookie-of-the-Year honors. He was killed in a racing accident at Langhorne Speedway the following spring.

Marcel_Renault

Marcel Renault (14 May 1872 – 26 May 1903) was a French racing driver and industrialist, co-founder of the carmaker Renault. He was the brother of Louis and Fernand Renault.
Marcel Renault, Louis Renault, and Fernand Renault co-founded Renault Frères based on a automobile prototype built by Louis. The brothers took orders to construct new automobiles as early as 1899.Renault was born in Paris; he and his brothers jointly founded the Renault company on 25 February 1899. He and Louis raced the cars it built starting the next year. He died in Payré, at the age of 31, of severe injuries he sustained during the Paris-Madrid race.
After his death, a statue was built in Renault's memory which later would be destroyed by the German attacks during World War II.

Art_Bisch

Arthur James Bisch (November 10, 1926 – July 6, 1958) was an American racecar driver. Bisch died two days after sustaining head and chest injuries when his Champ Car smashed into the guardrail and rolled over twice at Lakewood Speedway in July 1958. A month earlier, he had captured his first Champ Car win at the Milwaukee Mile.