http://www.iht.com/articles/ap ... Rally-Spectator-Death.php

Quote :

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: A woman spectator was killed at the Argentine Rally on Saturday when one of the race cars struck her as she tried to cross the course, local reports quoted police as saying.

Two other pedestrians involved in the accident with the Subaru driven by Argentine Gonzalo Alenaz were injured but reported out of danger, police and hospital officials told independent news agency Diarios y Noticias.

Police told the local news agency that the three had tried to cross a section of the course in the central hilly province Cordoba about 200 meters from one of the race checkpoints at Cosquin when the accident occurred.

Third major accident in 3 year perioid. Michael Park in 2005, last year that WRC Junior driver and now this.

"Next in the headlines, WRC banned because of too many deaths"

its of course tragic but to be honest its her own fault

/me agree's with shotglass

Rally argentina... when nothing works

Well, Motorsport is dangerous, whether your spectating or taking part, especcially in rallying, so I can't see WRC being banned for this.

Also agree with shotglass, sounds although it was there own fault if they were crossing the track, allways amazed at some peoples stupidity on stages.

Same situation was in polish rally, nothing happened really, but it was case of 10cm...
There was video of it somewhere. It was also woman.

It is sad, but why the heck would you try to cross the track when there's a rally going on? Often people's intelligence amazes me.

Long way from Group B days (http://youtube.com/watch?v=G6EOCtL_26s) but still many spectators seem to turn their brains off. For example in Monte Carlo rally (last year) there was a spectator stand in the end of a hairpin... like this V, where V is the road and underline is the spectator stand. Little mistake and result is horrible massacre...

It still amazes me how people can be that careless. If you are crossing a stage in an active rally you have to expect that there may be a racing car coming down the road at something like 70 or 80 mph. Vigilance has got to be the first thin on your mind and you should be ok.

Comiseraitons to the family and all but it just seems like a sensless waste

Dont the marshalls blow whistles when a car is approaching? hear a whistle get off the track

Quote from FOGlegsy :

Dont the marshalls blow whistles when a car is approaching? hear a whistle get off the track

Yes, that's how I know it. Why weren't they warned? Were there no marshalls? Were they at an official spectator spot?

And to the people who think it's silly to cross a rally track: You are aware that rally cars are seperated by about five minutes from each other aren't you? Crossing the track is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if you know there is no car coming.

And why isn't this on the autosport.com front page? This is a fatal accident at an official FIA event. I guess only racing drivers are real people in the eyes of the racing press.

Quote from J.B. :

And why isn't this on the autosport.com front page? This is a fatal accident at an official FIA event. I guess only racing drivers are real people in the eyes of the racing press.

Seems to be same thing few other rally news pages too... no news about this at all. Of course it's not hard to guess that FIA already pressed panic button because this would be obviously bad publicity. I remember when that J-WRC driver got killed last season that it was already forgotten the next day, at least they cancelled podium ceremonies.

I agree with Shotglass. She shouldn't have crossed the road.

Quote from J.B. :

And to the people who think it's silly to cross a rally track: You are aware that rally cars are seperated by about five minutes from each other aren't you? Crossing the track is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if you know there is no car coming.

Last I heard it was one minute, not five...

Couldn't find it on google but you're probably right. I only visited a rally once and from memory the wait between the cars seemed longer.

Quote from bbman :

Last I heard it was one minute, not five...

which can easily become a lot shorter if the leading car makes a mistake

Quote from J.B. :

Yes, that's how I know it. Why weren't they warned? Were there no marshalls? Were they at an official spectator spot?

And to the people who think it's silly to cross a rally track: You are aware that rally cars are seperated by about five minutes from each other aren't you? Crossing the track is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if you know there is no car coming.

Do you think that marshalls can be on EVERY few meters of the stage? For example, the stage where this accident happened, was ~11km long. Its impossible to cover EVERY cm of stage by marshalls.

The interval between the "top" drivers is 2minutes, 1 minute is between the other drivers. Also, you can really hear the cars from very far away, so i cant imagine wtf was she doing.

Quote from Don :

Do you think that marshalls can be on EVERY few meters of the stage? For example, the stage where this accident happened, was ~11km long. Its impossible to cover EVERY cm of stage by marshalls.

The interval between the "top" drivers is 2minutes, 1 minute is between the other drivers. Also, you can really hear the cars from very far away, so i cant imagine wtf was she doing.

That's why I asked if it was an official spectator area as I think those would be marshalled. That she didn't get scared away by the noise is puzzling though, but with so few details we canly guess wtf happened.

Quote from " :

Why did the Argentinian Cross the Road?

I hope the family can get through this

What i am wondering is why is there absolutely no coverage of this. It wasn't mentioned in the eurosport coverage or on the BBC Rally site or even autosport.com. It's like it never happened

that happens always on Rally Dakar, WRC dont need to be banned


sorry for tha english

Quote from Don :

The interval between the "top" drivers is 2minutes, 1 minute is between the other drivers. Also, you can really hear the cars from very far away, so i cant imagine wtf was she doing.

I guess she might have been hearing the car for quite a while and still not see it coming, so she took a stab at crossing. you know sound echos and all that you can't really tell sometimes.

I've been to a local rally event for years now, marshals seem to be at every dangerous corner. Before the first pre-drivers come along (this year it was Walther Röhrl on a Porsche 953!!!) a car with a big red flag clears the track. If you try to cross the street after red flag you might get into trouble with a marshal near you.
I've never heard anything about whistles... would be stupid, hearing a whistle blow every minute, don't you think?
IMO it is stupid to cross the track during a race, those cars and drivers are always a bit above their limits and NOT trained to let people cross in front of them.
I feel sorry for the pilots of the car, those guys might be shocked for life, maybe never able to drive fast again.

greetz

der butz

Quote from Xaid0n :

"Next in the headlines, WRC banned because of too many deaths"

This accident sounds like the very unfortunate stupidity of someone crossing a rally stage carelessly. The other two accidents rather highlight the problem with modern rallying:

The stages are shortened and endurance removed (Safari, no mixed surface events, some new lesser rallies eg. Germany/RAC > short Welsh forest blast) to satisfy 'safety'/spectators/TV/teams who don't want a challenge. Having shorter stages and less endurance and changing surfaces leads to drivers pushing harder and harder until they are on the cars limit everywhere to stay competitive, cars are safer so drivers don't normally have such a fear of an accident. Then they start hitting trees at high speed, absolutely no chance of walking from those kinds of crashes because despite the short stages and safe cars the stages are still dangerous.

My view is that rallying should go back to much more production based cars over much much longer much tougher events with less option for servicing.