The accident itself is one of the most bizarre and horrific in the sport's history. The force of the collision threw van Vuuren into the air. His body was so badly mutilated on impact that he was killed instantly. The fire extinguisher he had been carrying was ripped from his hands. The 18-kilogram cylinder, now a projectile, smashed directly into Tom Pryce's helmet before striking the car's roll hoop. The impact was instantly fatal, partially decapitating him.
For years, a persistent urban legend claimed that Jansen van Vuuren had been "torn in half" by the impact. However, motorsport historians and individuals who viewed the unedited archive footage have clarified that the marshal was not bifurcated. The visual illusion of this came from the extreme stretching of his bright-colored racing overalls and the scattering of his heavy outer clothing as the body spun across the tarmac, which is explicitly noted in official motorsport memorial documentations and eyewitness accounts. Final Thoughts
