Wurz to rally GPDA to help tsunami victims

Alex Wurz

Alex Wurz has promised to ask the members of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) to club together to help the survivors of last week’s catastrophic tsunami, which has left thousands dead in Japan and a trail of horrendous devastation in its wake.

A clutch of F1 stars have already expressed their sympathy and concern for the victims of the destructive force of nature that struck Japan last Friday, born out of an earthquake measuring a staggering 8.9 on the Richter scale and completely wiping out large areas of the country’s coast as well as leading to dangerous explosions at a nuclear power station.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso has reflected that in the light of such a terrible loss of life, F1’s own problems pale into insignificance, with fellow title-winner Jenson Button agreeing that the tragedy has been ‘horrific’ [see here and here].

Now, Wurz – a prominent member of the GPDA during his own top flight career from 1997 to 2007 – has written on his Twitter page that he will be calling upon the safety-oriented organization to help Japan, with Hispania Racing refugees Karun Chandhok and Sakon Yamamoto similarly pledging their support as the tributes continue to pour in.

“Our hearts and minds go out to the people of Japan, who are great supporters of our sport," reflected Mercedes Grand Prix team principal Ross Brawn, with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz describing the wreckage as ‘terrible’.

“It’s like it's unreal but it’s not," added Team Lotus ace Heikki Kovalainen – who has a Japanese engineer – on his own Twitter account. “I have a lot of Japanese fans, and I sincerely hope they are all okay."

“It’s shocking to see what has happened in Japan," echoed Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock. “I’m following it all on the TV news channels and can barely believe my eyes."