club racing fatality

Well, that is very sad news. He sounds like a pillar of the community.

If I'm not mistaken Turn 1 at NHIS has the soft wall system installed. Was this car in JP or ITS trim?

I have to say, I am shocked at the outcome. BMW is known for having a superlative program with a tremendous safety record. They run the races under the more conservative 13/13 rule, and getting the privledge to race comes after a long driver ed program.

Sad news indeed.
 
Originally posted by lateapex911@Oct 30 2005, 10:36 PM
Well, that is very sad news. He sounds like a pillar of the community.

If I'm not mistaken Turn 1 at NHIS has the soft wall system installed. Was this car in JP or ITS trim?

I have to say, I am shocked at the outcome.  BMW is known for having a superlative program with a tremendous safety record. They run the races under the more conservative 13/13 rule, and getting the privledge to race comes after a long driver ed program.

Sad news indeed.
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his car was a built-to-the-hilt JP car. i knew him and raced against him many times.

that is the first serious injury, let alone death, in bmw de/cr history. officials are being close with the info until they have accurate details to try to keep the rumor mill down.
 
Originally posted by mlytle@Oct 30 2005, 05:25 PM
not "it" related, but a loss to the club racing community.

http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satelli...d=1128767838348

it was a bmw club race.  dave was driving a 93 325is e36 bmw.  cause of the crash has not been released yet.

marshall
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The loss of any participant, official, or fan is a loss to us all regardless of sanctioning body. Dave's loss affects us all.
 
Sad news indeed. Reminds us that racing is a dangerous sport. Anybody know if he was wearing a head and neck restraint?

David
 
Yes it s supposd to be fun, and this weekend certainly wasn't.

The accident was right after a single file restart with a pace car.
For some reason, Dave was heading toward the inside wall and clipped the tires at the very end of the pit wall, and he hit about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way around turn 1.
The car slid against the wall until about 1/2 way thru turn 2 and stopped. I don't believe he had contact with other cars.

(The club was running the oval, not the south chicane. Clipping the tires is on one of the lines for the chicane, but certainly not for the oval.)

The next day, the club racers did a very slow backwards pace lap, and except for the sound of the cars, the entire place was silent. They went just about exactly down the middle of the track, except where Dave hit, and then one of the cars (I don't remember who it was) pulled out of line and went up against the wall and then rejoined the line. They parked on pit road and all shut off their cars, making the entire place silent. Totally silent.

For me, it was supposed to be a last few enjoyable days at the track to end the year, instead of something very upsetting, and it will be something I won't forget for a long, long time (i.e. ever.)
 
Originally posted by latebrake@Nov 28 2005, 06:25 PM
As it turns out Dave was not wearing any H&N system.  I know Dave owns a Hans but dont know why he didnt have it on. I know I will have something different than the dougnut in 06.

Lawrence
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Lawrence,

Do you know if he suffered from a head injury?

A couple of years ago a Corvette driver in GT1 died of head injuries, IIRC. His HANS device was in the trailer.
 
Originally posted by gsbaker@Nov 28 2005, 06:54 PM
Lawrence,

Do you know if he suffered from a head injury?

A couple of years ago a Corvette driver in GT1 died of head injuries, IIRC.  His HANS device was in the trailer.
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No, I dont know for sure. Internal injury is all I have been told. This covers a lot of ground and keeps blame down. I bet BMW kicks up the safty regs in 06,all in all a good thing I think.
Lawrence
 
Agreed. "Internal" covers everything on the inside, of course, though it usually refers to the abdomen or chest only.

Marque clubs are struggling with this. It's worse for the DE crowd. Do you want to force $5K of safety gear on someone who just wants to give their street car some exercise once or twice a year?

I don't pretend to have the answer, or know anyone who does.
 
When the Solo board made quality helmet mandatory for Solo 2, I had a fit. I saw it as a deterent to increasing our participation in autocrosses and consequently, new members. I've since eaten my words and apologized for my fits. Safety far out weighs increased income from new people.

My prayers go out to this driver, family, and friends. Sadly, it is from our mistakes that we learn to improve what we didn't know needed improvement.
 
Originally posted by charrbq@Nov 29 2005, 12:05 AM
When the Solo board made quality helmet mandatory for Solo 2, I had a fit.  I saw it as a deterent to increasing our participation in autocrosses and consequently, new members.  I've since eaten my words and apologized for my fits.  Safety far out weighs increased income from new people.

My prayers go out to this driver, family, and friends.  Sadly, it is from our mistakes that we learn to improve what we didn't know needed improvement.
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It certainly is a loss, but we don't know the cause or if different safety gear would help.
Personally, I think SCCA goes way overboard, and still likely has no better record than the club circle track guys who have a lot less expense.

The other factor is not the 'income from new members' but the disinsentive to participate safely instead of running on the street. With the crazy rules even in IT now, its hardly worth the running costs - easier to drive my street car with twice the power, twice as fast on the street.

Although any untimely death is tragic, life is not without risk, and we make choices every day. In my own case, I'm careful, but if I die in a wreck, so be it. At least it will be doing something I love.
 
I believe after long dicussion with a driver right behind at the time of the accident, he had a heart attach. He vered to the left before the oval entry and went straight up across the apron, across the oval and into the wall. His brake lights were on but he did not slow down. He was apparently in poor physical condition at the time. His death is trajic but I think it should tells us all to make sure we are in good health before we hit the track. The stress and heat we endure racing is extreme.
 
Originally posted by gsbaker@Nov 28 2005, 10:54 PM
Lawrence,

Do you know if he suffered from a head injury?

A couple of years ago a Corvette driver in GT1 died of head injuries, IIRC.  His HANS device was in the trailer.
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IIRC, that driver died as the result of being struck in the head by his fire extinguisher which broke loose.
 
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