Carrera GT fatal wreck at CA Speedway

[RacinM3]

2 men were killed yesterday during a Ferrari Owner's Club event at CA Speedway. Running clockwise on the infield road course, a Carrera GT was coming up the front straight at an estimated 150 MPH. At the same time, a Ferrari was waved out of pit lane on to the track. The Ferrari apparently entered the track in front of the CGT. The CGT driver went into avoidance mode, missed the Ferrari, and lost it trying to recover, spinning and hitting the wall passenger-side first. The passenger was killed instantly, and the driver passed away in the helicopter on the way to the hospital.

The driver was a well-respected poster on Rennlist and other Porsche-specific forums I frequent. I've run across him and his beautiful car a few times at a weekly car meet I go to every so often. By all accounts, he was a genuinely nice guy. He leaves his wife and only-months-old infant. The passenger leaves behind his wife of only 30 days. The passenger was NOT an instructor; he was a friend of the driver who was having mechanical issues with his Lamborghini and went for a ride in the CGT.

There are pics of the incident I've seen but I won't post them.

For all of you who track your cars at driver's education events for learning and fun, remember, s**** happens, expect the unexpected, realize that sometimes you just don't have somewhere to go, and make sure your safety equipment is up to snuff. If you have a track-only car like many do, for god's sake put a cage in, get a 5-point harness and a HANS device.

[racer2c]

That's sad. I feel for their families. :(

[RichK]

Very sad news! We car enthusiasts are so lucky to be able to take our street cars onto real racetracks, but it can be MORE dangerous than real races.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your acquaintance, Scott.

[Spicoli]

damn. :(

[Sean O'Gorman]

2 men were killed yesterday during a Ferrari Owner's Club event at CA Speedway. Running clockwise on the infield road course, a Carrera GT was coming up the front straight at an estimated 150 MPH. At the same time, a Ferrari was waved out of pit lane on to the track. The Ferrari apparently entered the track in front of the CGT. The CGT driver went into avoidance mode, missed the Ferrari, and lost it trying to recover, spinning and hitting the wall passenger-side first. The passenger was killed instantly, and the driver passed away in the helicopter on the way to the hospital.

Scott, the story I read over at honda-tech was that supposedly the Ferrari driver hesitated coming out of the pits, the instructor yelled GO! and then the guy stopped again. Don't know how credible that is or not, but several NASA/SCCA racers said they have driven the track in that configuration and do not like the pit exit.

[RacinM3]

I don't know the specifics of how the Ferrari driver ended up where he did. Nor do I care for the pit exit.

I've raced the CA Speedway "ALMS" version (3/4 of the oval, with the infield road course) many times, but only twice on the infield road course. The ALMS version pit lane (same pit lane that CART used) spits you out into Turn 1 of the oval, down low, and cars already on-track have a TON of room to get by on the banking. When run clockwise (as this group was), the cheesy infield-only version pit out puts cars on track to drivers left of it's front straight. Unfortunately driver's left is ALSO where cars carrying a ton of speed down the straight are setting up for braking and turn-in to the Turn 1 right hander. It's a recipe for yesterday's disaster. Especially in a car capable of speeds like a CGT.

The other issue I have is, from the photos of the wreck, they impacted a LARGE unprotected (no tire wall) k-rail hard enough to not just move it, but knock it over entirely. Hopefully the track learns from this and protects the barrier.

[Gnam]

Disaster. :thumdown:

Did they have any safety equipment? Maybe taking out the Ferrari would have slowed them down enough to survive the impact with the wall.

[oddlycalm]

Very sad news! We car enthusiasts are so lucky to be able to take our street cars onto real racetracks, but it can be MORE dangerous than real races. Very true, and often due to an ill advised track layout that would never be used for a race. We had an M3 put a wheel onto the grass during a club track day on the off camber back "straight" at PIR and it put him into the inside wall head on at 125mph. It was bound to happen as the BMW club, unlike every other club that uses the track, has passing on the outside where the off camber is worse. Fortunately the angle was shallow and all that happened was a totaled E36 M3. The owner was upset of course, but being around to complain about it is the prime directive.

Way sorry to hear about the fatalities at Fontana. :(

oc

[Michaelhatesfans]

Terrible, terrible news. :(

[Methanolandbrats]

:( The lapping stuff I've done does'nt allow passengers except for instructors. Is allowing passengers common in other areas? Personally, I don't think going 150 mph without six-point belts and a cage with door bars is a very good idea. Sure, rich guys don't want to cut up their cars, but maybe sanctioning bodies should make them. :(

[Ankf00]

what a way to start a family :(

[Fio1]

I feel awful for both families. Ben, the driver just had a baby daughter; it’s so tragic. Ben is a fixture on a bunch of automobile forums that I sometimes read, mostly concerning Ferrari’s and Porsches. :(

The passenger was a pioneer in internet marketing, he wrote a few books on the subject. I think he basically came up with pop-up-ads and stuff. When they built cars capable of Grand-Am or ALMS speeds, they should build these cars with the safety these series' use as well. From the pictures I saw on a L.A TV station's web-site, I doubt anything could have prevented the passenger's fait, but maybe the driver could have survived if the car had a cage. Like Racing M3 stated, the fact that they hit a concrete wall is very upsetting, where the heck were the tire barriers?

It’s sad but I honestly feel we will hear a lot more of this tragedy with lawsuits and so forth in the coming months. I just hope the politicians don’t get involved too much.

[Hard Driver]

What a terrible shame. :cry: