Carrera GT Fatal Crash at Fontana ?

[WDNoon]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this... Does anyone have details on a fatal crash that just happened at Fontana in a silver Carrera GT ?

Bill Noon

[TRE Cup]

check over on pelican- there is a lot of info there
sad day

[WDNoon]

Where at Pelican ? Please post a link.

Bill

[kenikh]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...hreadid=224465

[porsche911s1971]

Photos and an article here: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4566122/detail.html

[RickS]

Looks like a good arguement for soft, energy absorbing barriers. I won't second guess skill, training, etc...

[joe912]

Besides the experience of the Drivers ,I wonder if paying more than $ 150,000 usd for a Carrera GT does give you more safety than having an early Porsche with a top speed of 120 + mph. Seems that the GT does not have safety bars in the doors. Also the weight savings for this car seems to be good performance-wise but not safety-wise.

The Automotive Industry test their cars for a 5 mph bumper impacts !.

Shouldn't be a Regulation for Sport Cars to Test them with a higher speed?

[John Fusco]

I'm not sure there is any way to make impact at 160 less devastating for the human body ( is there ? ) . At that speed if you hit the wrong way - something has to give.

The cockpit is intact.

Look at what happened with Dale Earnhardt Sr. - that crash didn't look so bad and those cars are tanks -

Seems to be alot of life, and death is a matter of luck or inches or timing.

We can't always be protected from ourselves.

John

[gruen911]

I wonder if Porsche sent a team from the factory to analyze the crash.
I also wonder if it was another case of too much money and not enough sense when driving a high performance sportscar. Unfortunately two people had to die this time as a result of the driver's lack of ability.

[John Fusco]

It does make you wonder...How many of us (still) would want one of those cars - I would for one.
However,even our 40 year old cars are prob more than some of us can handle (without acclimatization and some instruction).
Street cars are getting more and more powerful - and you don't have to be rich ( Corvette C6 ) but I don't know, it seems like drivers are ever more irresponsible (NOT ref to the driver of the GT )- yellow lights now mean speed up and talking on the phone while driving is a necessity...and that's without getting into car control skills. What is amazing to me is to me is that a car like the Carrerra GT used to be only accessible to the likes of a Vic Elford or Jackie Ickx or Jo siffert - and even their hard earned and sublime skills were tested in them and sometimes (too often ) it killed even the best of them.

I'm sure most of us my drive responsibly and try to not exceed our levels of skill - on the track ( a place to learn to drive fast) and esp on the street I try to be conservative ... but one moment of unbridled enthusiasm or distraction or a lack of concentration or hesitation or unforseen curcumstance...... liike I said - we can't be saved from ourselves ...
It's human nature to push the limits despite knowing the potential cost.

The folks at Porsche must be scrambling though.

John