Track Marshal Died Doing What he Loved, Says Widow

The widow of the  track marshal who was fatally injured during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix said at his funeral on Friday that her  husband had died doing what he loved. 

Graham Beveridge, 51, died after he was hit in the chest by  a bouncing tyre which smashed through a gap in the safety fence  after Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's BAR car flew into the fence and disintegrated early in Sunday's season-opening race at Melbourne. 

Race winner and world champion Michael Schumacher sent a signed letter of condolence as did race runner-up David Coulthard. 

Beveridge, who leaves three children aged in their twenties, was a concrete worker and volunteer fire fighter. 

"He was ecstatic when he was accepted to be a marshal," his sobbing wife Karen told the congregation at a packed church in Bowral. 

"He loved the sport and, while he knew the risks, the buzz he got from those race meetings only increased his passion. 

"He was killed doing something he loved. He wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

"He was in the right place at the wrong time." 

Formula One officials want to raise the height of safety  fences and reduce speeds following the tragic start to the 2001  season. 

International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley was quoted on Tuesday as saying he was worried that cars  had proved far faster than expected at last weekend's Grand Prix.