Formula 1 racer Timo Glock walked away from the mangled wreckage of his Toyota at the German Grand Prix after a rear suspension failure on the final turn of the race hurtled him backwards into a concrete wall.  The force of the impact knocked the air out of his lungs, and would likely have resulted in serious head injury without the monocoque, a protective shell that encases the driver in the racing seat.

The monocoque was brought into Formula 1 racing after years of pioneering research by Professor Emeritus Robert Hubbard, Michigan State University Mechanical Engineering faculty.  As a result of Dr. Hubbard's research, this HANS (head and neck safety) device has been strengthened to a phenomenal degree.  This system, secured to the helmet, prevents the head from whipping around during an accident and causing basilar skull fracture, the injury responsible for the deaths of two Formula 1 racers in 1994 at San Marino.

Glock was able to race the following day at the Grand Prix in Hungary, placing second.