Cal Club Autocross Forums

http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=22368

Dear NASA members and racing community,

A tragic accident occurred at Willow Springs Raceway on May 24th which resulted in life threatening injuries to one of our members. Due to the number of erroneous accounts posted on the internet including supposed “first hand reports” which we know are false, we are publishing this statement of facts in hopes that the racing community will be respectful of the family and refrain from further uninformed speculation.

At 11:30am Joseph Drey was driving his 2002 Mini Cooper S in NASA’s High Performance Driving Experience when the vehicle left the racing surface at the exit of Turn 9 and subsequently turned back across the track. While sliding across the infield dirt, the vehicle rolled an unknown number of times, landing upright but causing the driver to be partially ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle sustained the most significant damage located in the right rear, with additional damage extending to all remaining portions of the vehicle. The left front wheel assembly was separated from the vehicle while the other wheel assemblies remained attached. A fixed back racing seat was properly installed and remains securely attached he the vehicle. A DOT approved 4 point harness restraint system was being utilized. Rescue teams were performing lifesaving measures within 1 minute from when the car stopped rolling and immediate medical aid was administered by NASA Safety, paramedics, and 2 physicians. The patient was transported to the hospital via air ambulance where further medical treatment occurred.

It is with great regret we must recount this tragedy and all information from this event will be analyzed by experts and/or manufacturers. Should anything be learned which could improve the environment for our drivers, changes will be reflected in the NASA Club Codes and Regulations.

Sincerely,


Ryan Flaherty
National Chairman
National Auto Sport Association

I assume "Mini driver passes after WSIR incident" means he died?

It seems that in a post meant to eliminate speculation, misinformation, and rumor that the "passing" should be verified, too.

Turn 9
Turn 9 will never carry any other name if it's up to me! Maybe only the word terrible could be added. The reputation of this decreasing right turn is known throughout the world. Most riders and drivers who have traveled "The Nine Turns of Willow" have lost control on Turn 9 more than any other corner. The skid marks make up a maze with very little asphalt not covered with rubber. The spinout area on the inside of the turn is flat and spacious, seldom allowing a car to roll. Turn 9's not really too dangerous... It's just embarrassing!

Another turn 9 crash on camera with rescue footage:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M8ygjttKdF4

Will Kalman wrote:I assume "Mini driver passes after WSIR incident" means he died?

It seems that in a post meant to eliminate speculation, misinformation, and rumor that the "passing" should be verified, too.

Agreed; Ryan doesn't say anywhere in his message that the person died; calling it tragic certainly implies that.

Just got this e-mail from the guy who runs trackHQ.com:

Hello,
We need your help to make WSIR a safer place!! Oli already did the hard work for all of us by initiating and composing the petition. If you haven''t already, please take the time and vote "Yes" on the thread at trackHQ and sign your name on ipetition.com. Track safety is important for us all and to the health of the sport. Better run-off zones means mitigated risk of car damage and makes the sport more affordable. Please spread the the word to other car forums that you frequent. And feel free to provide your constructive ideas or debate on what can be done to make Turn 9 safer.

trackHQ thread:
http://www.trackhq.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1191

Formal online petition at ipetitions.com
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Peti ... ackSafety/

Thank you,
Manly

You can't make racing perfectly safe, but it does certainly seem like an effort should be made to increase your odds of merely getting dirty in common off areas. Turn 9 is a COMMON off area.

The apex curbing has a drop off, so if you get too tight and drop a wheel there's the risk of damage. Going off the outside has the pitwall.

There's talk in the thread about prompting BW to do something about the clay/mud whatever that's there. Grass or gravel traps. Personally, I'd rather see asphalt in some places at both tracks, although my experience at BW is East Loop only.

Steve Ekstrand wrote:You can't make racing perfectly safe, but it does certainly seem like an effort should be made to increase your odds of merely getting dirty in common off areas. Turn 9 is a COMMON off area.

turn 9 is a common "aww geez, what's the exit doing way over there and why the heck am i over here" area. good luck with making it safer

"Correct Procedure" if and when you go off at Turn 9:

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Corr ... 163132.htm

There's talk in the thread about prompting BW to do something about the clay/mud whatever that's there. Grass or gravel traps. Personally, I'd rather see asphalt in some places at both tracks, although my experience at BW is East Loop only.

Supposedly (according to Formula 1 research) asphalt is a much better runoff material than grass or gravel, since you maintain the friction to brake. I'd have to say grass seems like the worst. I've seen races where a car gets one driving wheel on the grass and one on the track, and when the driver accelerates his car goes all Pete Tong on him.

Mako Koiwai wrote:Correct Procedure if and when you go off at Turn 9:

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Corr ... 163132.htm

Interesting how in that video you can even see many skid marks from cars that spun to the inside of the exit of turn 9

Kurt Rahn wrote:Supposedly (according to Formula 1 research) asphalt is a much better runoff material than grass or gravel,

RallyX cars have flipped at 15mph. You don't dig into asphault. This is one of the things that makes AutoX very safe.

Jay W

You can't make racing perfectly safe, but it does certainly seem like an effort should be made to increase your odds of merely getting dirty in common off areas. Turn 9 is a COMMON off area.

Knowledge and instruction are the best ways to increase safety. Here's a great instrucitonal video about running a lap at WSIR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RUFKQt5-bU

http://thecapistranodispatch.com/index. ... eturnid=15


Here is a link tgo the driver that was killed. Too bad, a good guy will be missed by a lot of people.