Woman dies at Andretti driving experience at Fontana.

RIP. A tragedy.

8 minutes doesn't exactly let you learn the car before pushing it.

 

Yes a tragedy but motor racing is a dangerous activity. These track events are normally very well run but physics is physics and all the prep in the world does not remove the inherent danger involved. I believe that disecting the news article and drawing any conclusions from it is wildly premature. Dozens of unreported factors could have played a role in the death and the sad thing is that the lawyers will have a field day blaming someone for an activity that, by its nature, is risky.

 

I'm totally with you on this.

It's a tragedy. No question. But, why can't we be free to take risks if we want to?

No one wants anyone injured or killed. But, we should also be free enough to take that risk if we want to.

If she was properly warned to the risk and got in the seat anyway, then that was her choice.

 

Not much description of the prep involved, but this looks like an accident waiting to happen...

http://www.andrettiracing.com/coursesforthefirst/style2/indexASecureCartB1G1.php?user_session=9&cmp_id=1&PmtFrm=online

 

I agree, but I'm not so willing to write it off as assumed risk without hearing any additional info. Maybe she was short and they couldn't strap her in correctly. etc. etc. etc.

 

That's a good point.

 

I like this line> There are no refunds for any reason.
CH

 

This "woman" was 24.... pretty sad.

 

Fontana has claimed many life. It's just a fast track and shouldn't be taken easily.

Having an extreme experience on a oval fast track is just plain silly. Any novice should start on a street circuit with lots of run off.

RIP to the woman. I hope the track closes this program and evaluate its safety standards.

 

I did this a few years back at Joliet, IL. It was not a whole lot of prep and I guess I am more informed than your average person in terms of racing, but at no point did I ever feel unsafe or scared.

It's still a tragedy.

 

..and I think they'll Bill them for the equipment.....$$$

R.I.P.

Any background on the victim??

Or even an eyewitness account as to what happened???

 

I agree 100%. Its the same as if someone were to die while sky diving, bungie jumping etc...

 

Sad.

More people are eaten by pigs than sharks each year.

IIRC, from "Going Faster," hang gliding and skydiving have higher death rates than car racing.

 

I agree, I did this in vegas @ vegeas speed way my mph was 162.xx. Still a sad story

 

I think we are potentially missing the point. Because many or some of us drive at over 150mph and don't feel scared actually misses the point. There are many reasons for not feeling scared, one being experience and skill, and another being lack of truly understanding what can occur at these speeds.

I have no idea of the skill level of the unfortunate victim, but it appears that there is not a great deal of training required before sending out a driver in a car capable of these speeds. We all know how fast things can and do occur at these speeds and even if we are highly skilled and experienced, we can and do occasionally experience slides and offs.

So, the real question I believe is, was she and others like her, adequately prepared to drive at these speeds?

Rob

 

"So, the real question I believe is, was she and others like her, adequately prepared to drive at these speeds?"



I've been tracking/racing for years, and have driven very fast race cars, and would not run an open wheel car on an oval, period.

There's just so little information available about this incident. I've seen recent articles, in the past 24 hours, claiming top speeds of 120 mph for the Andretti program. Have also seen that the driver hit an inside wall and flipped - reminds me a bit of Greg Moore's tragedy.

We may never get the real story on this one. The big Fontana Carrera GT incident proves that everyone involved just settles the inevitable lawsuit.

 

Here's the full text of one of the articles claiming a 120MPH limit. Note the Speedway's claim of no fatalities in recent years. Idiot.



A 24-year-old Los Angeles woman was killed in a crash during a simulated Indy race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, it was reported today.

Ashley Sara Phalen’s vehicle struck the inside wall at a high rate of speed and overturned at about 9:30 a.m. Friday, the Fontana Herald News reported. Paramedics took Phalen to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, where she was pronounced dead.

Phalen was participating in the Mario Andretti Racing Experience Driving 101 class, which teaches the public the basics of open-wheel racing by allowing them to drive replica Indy cars, according to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office.

Race track officials did not say how fast Phalen was driving when she smashed into the inside wall, but said race cars often reach speeds of up to 120 miles per hour on the two-mile course. Racing at the track was suspended Friday, but resumed Saturday.

Speedway spokesperson David Talley said it was the first death at the track that he could recall in recent years, adding that Phalen had taken a class prior to getting into the car and was in radio contact with instructors while driving.


Read more: http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-10-17/news/la-woman-killed-in-crash-during-racing-class-at-auto-club-speedway-in-fontana#ixzz12k75mICR

 

http://www.groupon.com/deals/drive-tech-racing-school-1-4?utm_campaign=drive-tech-racing-school-1-4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=btn&[email protected]

Got this in an email....

Maybe they should rethink it and go 75?

 

I can't speak for her but I can tell you how events like these are run as I have done one event with a CART replica on the Chicago Speedway (meanwhile gone), one with a IRL replica (akin to the Andretti experience) on the Joliet speedway and a NASCAR experience at the Disney oval in Orlando.

The NASCAR experience was actually most involving as you had to occasionally shift and just getting in that tight sucker was hard.

The open wheel experiences didn't require shifting (although you could) because you were pushed to start from behind by an ATV and then did one or two upshifts and stayed in like 4th the whole time. Braking was really required either (unless going to the pits at the end of it) so you basically steer the car with steering and lifting off the throttle.

As to the line and speed: All these events are "follow the leader", which is a trainer ahead in an identical car. After a few warm up laps he starts to increase the speed gradually. If you follow exactly in his wake/line and keep the proper distance he will increase the speed. Otherwise he'll stay at it and you're giving some signs by the flag men at the s/f line.

So it is not like you're bumbling around on your own. Also following the leader is very comforting: You don't believe the speeds you're capable with these cars as they build up ground effect. But you see that the car in front of you is not flying off so you overcome your instincts and go faster.

How fast you eventually end up is also largely dictated by the package you buy: The more laps you buy the more you pay and the more likely you'll end up at higher speeds.

The main difference between my three experiences and this one here is that the Fontana oval is actually a Super Speedway, meaning capable of doing much higher speeds. That IMHO is probably the biggest problem with what happened here. My 3 ovals were relatively short and you'll never go that high. And for the experience and the thrill of it you don't have to. Trust me going 120 mph a foot away from a concrete wall was plenty of thrill.

From a safety/ride comfort perspective the Joliet oval was subpar: They used some simple foam pads to get the driver in the right position and it didn't work for me: As a result I was uncomfortable and sat too low, which goes against the fun. In the other two experiences the seats were perfect and I was glued in.
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From the website, most of the classes are just 3 hours long. The accident happened at 9.30 am. How much experience could she have!?

http://www.andrettiracing.com/MARE/faq.html

 

Andreas - fantastic post and very insightful addition to the discussion. I really had no
idea how events like this worked - thanks for clearing that up for me.

Jedi

 

You're quite welcome.

I made a typo: you do NOT need the brakes

One pic shows the hands on instruction of the car. Before that there is a brief classroom session, like 15 minutes

So no you don't learn much about driving race cars but that is not the point. If you follow the instructions and the leader you should be fine. Plus you really dictate the speed because the lead car won't go faster if you fall behind.

 

This experience seems a little different. According to the website, there is no lead car or pace car. You get 8 minutes, which means 1 warm up lap, one "hot" lap and a cool down lap. It seems like this would make some people try to go too fast too soon. It also says that it is "safe".
The benefit of the superspeedway is that the car isn't even working it's tires at the speeds they are going. The driver would have to do something wrong, or maybe sneeze or something. If you can steer, it seems like it shouldn't be a problem.

Wally Dallenbach drove me around California Speedway at about 150 in his personal Mercedes, passing all the PPG pace cars as they were not allowed to go over 130 or something (It was a while ago, CART days). It was pretty much like driving down the freeway at 90.