Watkins Glen DE fatality
 

just got this thru our PCA

"I wanted you all to know first hand, before any rumors get started,
that there was a fatality at Watkins Glen this past weekend at a PCA
Driver's Ed. It was a 61 year old gentleman driving a Boxster in the
car alone. The car apparently flipped after hitting a guard rail. There
is some question about his health and whether or not a health related
issue could have actually cased the incident. This is of course being
investigated. Those are all of the details that I have about this most
unfortunate and tragic incident. "

and more:

"The man killed Saturday in a crash at Watkins Glen International
racetrack was there with a Porsche club, a track spokeswoman said
Sunday.

Eiron Jones, the senior manager of public relations for Watkins Glen
International, said Bengt-Erik Wiholm, 61, of Blue Bell, Pa., a
Philadelphia suburb, was part of the Riesentotor Region of the Porsche
Club of America, which rented the track for the day.

Wiholm was killed shortly before 4:30 p.m. Saturday when he lost control
of his vehicle and crashed into guide rails as he headed into "The Boot"
at Turn 6."

have fun, drive safely.

That is too bad. On another note, I hope the lawsuits don't start flying and PCA being able to use tracks does not come to an end. We Americans love to sue the Sh%$ out of people and then we go to the extremes to protect our butts by making crazy rules and restricting anything that might be remotely dangerous. That is why everything is so damn expensive. Thank you bloodsucking lawyers and better yet, thank you bloodsucking average joe who give the bloodsucking lawyers business. Sorry...I digress. My apologies to the lawyers out there...I understand you are people too just trying to make a living...even if it is at the back end of a ambulance.

Rail - agree with your fears of curtailed privelages.
That aside, most tracks have a few known danger areas, where the concrete barriers are too close to the corners, etc. In a DE situation it hardly seems necessary to go flat out through those areas and risk tearing up a car, or worse, since there are no roll cages. Course, any loss of focus can always bring trouble. Hard to analyze without having more information on the specific crash. I'd be curious to hear exactly what happened, if they know - will see what I can find.

My rant was completed below...I'm much calmer today. Please post what happened.