Amateur Driver Killed At Pocono

[Jim]

Amateur driver killed at Pocono

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- An amateur race car driver was killed when he lost control of his vehicle and it struck a concrete barrier at the Pocono International Raceway.

Robert Goldfarb, 45, of Duxbury, Mass., died Sunday from blunt force trauma to the head, Monroe County Chief Deputy Coroner Jody Hutton said. An autopsy was performed Monday.

The accident happened Sunday during the second lap of a Sports Car Club of America event.

"At this point, it is under investigation by our people,'' said Robert Keating, president of the club's northeast Pennsylvania region. He said investigators did not know what caused Goldfarb to lose control of his vehicle.

It was the first fatal accident during a club event at Pocono International Raceway since the club started using the track in 1968, Keating said.

Pocono Mountain Regional police responded to the accident, but officials said police are not investigating because the death happened during a sanctioned race.


Article from ESPN.

 

[docjohn]

This is quite tragic.Aparantly he was in a t-1 corvette and was president of the new england corvette chapter.It was only lap#2 and is a sharp~40-50 mph 90 degree left.The challenge is to get all the braking done because you are going 130-150mph through the tunnel turn leading up to this.I don't know specifics but his car left the track at a high rate of speed and he was pronounced at the scene.What is startiling (to me)is I was spectating on Sat. (this occured on Sun. and I'll be running the same configuration this Sun. at an open track event at similar speeds.Although this was a race it still shows us that there is significant risk on track and you should never skimp or cheap your car in preparation for track events!I remember John Vasos saying there were numerous cars at nsxpo 01 that had not had brake fluid nor pads changed in years and oblivious owners were ready to go out on track that way

And this tragity happened to a well prepared experienced 45 yo racer.

 

[Lud]

After talking to John Vassos at NSXPO 2001, it was clear to me (and to him) that tech inspection for the NSXPO track event last year was not adequate for a number of the cars. Far too many cars got on the track with serious and obvious pre-existing problems such as the brake issues docjohn mentioned.

It was not adequate at NSXPO 2000 either - I showed up late on the first day and had forgotten my tech inspection form at the hotel. I was going to go back and get it, but the Panoz guy just walked around my car and signed it off. So effectively I could have put my car on the track with no tech inspection.

I would like to see some additional tech inspection at future NSXPO track events. The tragedy at Pocono is a reminder of just how dangerous it can be. The best driver in the world has few options when they have a mechanical failure at high speed headed into a corner (i.e. Ayrton Senna).

We need to make sure we are doing everything possible to prevent that from happening to our fellow owners and club members, and that includes more rigerous tech inspections AT the event. Sure the form to have your mechanic do it is great, but obviously the mechanics doing the inspection are not reliable in all cases (or people are forging form??)... either way, there are far too many fundamental and obvious problems being missed.

I am not trying to blame anyone or say events have been run poorly - I know that is how most events are run. But I think we have enough experience now to realize there is a cheap and easy way to improve safety, so I'd like to see it done before an incident as opposed to after.

I know there are enough qualified people at NSXPOs to do at least a basic tech inspection on 100 cars in short order in the hotel parking lot the day before the track event. Line 'em up and roll them through a couple lines, ala an SCCA autocross tech inspection. They check all the key points on a car for obvious problems in 10 minutes. I'll volunteer to help.

[This message has been edited by Lud (edited 07 August 2002).]

 

[docjohn]

I agree 100%.At a yearly club event were you have many track newbies, tech nonchalance can not be tolerated.