NASA,HPDE 05/24 -I heard a Mini driver died today at willow springs
I'm heading out with a good friend of mine for a shakedown on the TT car we just built him. He called his friend (one of the organizers). He reported that a 75 year driver of a Mini cooper went off in turn nine and rolled over and unfortunately reports are that he has passed.

The Mini did not have a roll bar or a cage, allegedly he had schroth harness that clips into the rear seat belt and that MAY have contributed to his injuries.

It is not clear if his age had anythign to do with his passing.

This is a very preliminary report so some facts may be incorrect. I'm sure that the full details will become available as offical news reports are released.

I will be there tomorrow so I might have an update tomorrow night.

For the time being, I wish his family the best and my toughts are with them at this time.

RIP....

No one goes to a track day thinking they won't be home for dinner....a simple roll bar and proper harness MAY have saved him.....or not..... at this time we don't know much....

Godspeed........

p.s- I only found this post over on the nasa forums
http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=22319
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RIP and say aprayer for his family.

 

RIP and condolences to his family and friends.

Rollbar should be a minimum requirement of any trackday...

 

No one should ever be allowed out on a high speed track like WSIR without a proven roll bar and 5 or 6 point harness.

May he RIP. At least he went doing something he obviously loved....

 

Condolences to his family may he RIP.

It looks like this was a NASA event on the WSIR calendar. I thought they required roll bars. If it was a turn nine shunt, the decreasing radius is a nasty
turn if you get it wrong.

 

What a shame. I admire this guy, who at 75 was obviously still very much enjoying life to the fullest. While I know people are much 'younger' than the numbers suggest these day, we should all hope to that at 75 were still as involved as that.

Let's wait and see what happened before suggesting everyone needs more mandated equipment. Since nobody knows what happened, I don't want to sound like the politicians who after every situation that gets some press, buries us with more rules and regs...needed or not.

Roll bars and harnesses may be fine for high speed tracks, and personally I have no problem with having that equipment in my car.... I just don't want to force everyone into the choice of either butchering their new and expen$ive ride or not driving. If you mandate roll bars and harnesses, there may be many less interested parties and then ultimately less organizations and events. Trying to figure out what "high speed" is would be an issue since many of these tracks can have different configurations. I'm also pretty sure that speed isn't the only issue in evaluating a tracks "roll -over risk" or other inherent risks.

I'm also not so sure a modern Mini with ABS, multiple air bags, traction control, crumple zones, isn't just as safe or safer than some old 911 (like mine) with none of the above, fiberglass bumpers, even w/ the added roll bar and harness.

 

I do know that those sort of harnesses are frowned upon here... most clubs do not allow them. It's either stock belts or real 5 or 6 point harnesses.... no middle ground. There is always grumbling but...

RIP to the driver and condolences to the family. Never fun to hear about these sort of incidents.

 

I see this was DE, most places wont require a roll bar for DE, but for NASA Time Trials I think they should require them.

 

I am so sorry this happened. I truly feel for the family.

Most DEs do require a roll bar - but a "factory-installed" roll bar is acceptable. I do believe the MINI convertible has just that on the rear seats. I've had several folks (mostly in older BMW convertibles and Vettes) want in without a roll bar. I truly get down on my hands and knees and beg them to put in a roll bar. When my husband was out in our Boxster and the tire blew - the roll bar and top up - saved him and his passenger from any harm.

I just can't see any DE accepting a vehicle without the minimum in protection.

BTW - the anti-submarine 4 pt belts are still permitted by Porsche for DEs. They even wrote an amendment about it.

 

Just a thought that maybe we can lay off the speculation until we get some facts.

First it's a Mini, then a mini with 5-6pt, then a mini with the schroth quick fit, then a mini convertible.

This type of speculation is only counterproductive.

 

I did my first 3 DEs at WSIR in my completely stock E36 M3. First 2 with the BMWCCA and the third with NASA. Yes, it is a fast track but not necessarily dangerous, no more so than others. Rule I was taught is if you go two wheels off at turn nine, wait fot the pit entrance to try and make it back onto track. Otherwise you will careen into the infield. Like others have said, lets not jump to conclusions about what happened. Crap, maybe the dude had heart failure. We don't know.

Personally, when I get of age, I hope to go out of this world doing something I enjoy.

 

RIP, always sad to hear these things but at least he left by doing something he must've loved.

 

if u know, pls pm me.
Color of car?
is his name jerry?
I can't find u.

 

I've heard several different stories on this, last I heard "the driver is in bad shape but will live".

 

Wow ...please keep us posted here. I frequent WSIR and know T9 well ...one time all too well and still have a dented rt-rear-qtr panel to show for it. No complaints, obviously, as I fared ok. A challenging turn and I very much hope that the very last "speculation" is the case, that he will survive. Anyone who has actual info please lend clarity ...my best to his family. An incident like this touches all of us.

Edward