Co-Driver dies at Wales

[Rossell]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/world_rally/4257438.stm



He died doing what he loved.

RIP.

 

[Gabkicks]

i was just about to post that... :'(

they were a great team. Markko is usually a very carefull driver so that makes me wonder if it was a mechanical error? Michael park was a very good co-driver and i am wondering what will happen with the team now...

 

[My_Sterious]

When I heard the news about 40 minutes ago, I thought it couldn't be true. Yesterday, one finnish co-driver died in an accident in Finland, and today Michael Park died in Wales. A terrible weekend for rally sport.
But these accidents just prove that no matter how safe all the roll cages and HANS's are, the risk is allways there. Everytime you get on a rally car, the risk is with you. Michael Park just had the worst luck you can imagine.
Let him rest in peace.

 

[nitro_2005]

i just heard about it. I was shocked to find out. i mean, we were all excited to have colin mcrae back, but this really shouldn't have happened. i really feel for his family, friends and markko martin himself. man, that really is a great shame.

i think in honour of respect, peugeot should withdraw gronholm. it's only right to respect him. if i was the peugeot boss, i would do that.

RIP Michael "Beef" Park - We Will Miss You

EDIT: just read at the bottom of the link posted that all the remaining stages have been cancelled and Sebastien Loeb is now the 2005 World Rally Champion. i'm sure he's pleased that he has won, but i'm also sure that this isn't the way he would have wanted to win it. If i was Seb, i would dedicate this win to Michael Park and everyone who knew him.

What a sad say for both the rallying and motorsport world...

 

[Freddie]

It's a sad day indeed for both the rally sport and Park's family.

Loeb has however declared that he didn't want to win the WRC because of this accident, and on purpose got himself a two-minute penalty on the final transport stage, making P. Solberg the rally's winner.

Grönholm retired following his team-mates' accident, on his own request.

Understandably, there will be no champagne and celebration after the rally. The FIA press conference has also been canceled, according to vg.no (norwegian site!).

Edit: Some of those details are in the link posted above.

 

[den brakke]

You can sign his register here:

http://www.tdl.ee/~raxz/park/index.php

 

[Famine]

Anyone want to bet we'll see restrictions (probably tyre) to slow the cars down after this?

 

[ExigeEvan]

I heard the news when I got in, at Margam of all places.

Has anyone seen footage?

Surely a sturdier rollcage would be a better suggestion, Famine? (Even though they are strong already.)

 

[den brakke]

I heard the news when I got in, at Margam of all places.

Has anyone seen footage?

Surely a sturdier rollcage would be a better suggestion, Famine? (Even though they are strong already.)

That would be better, but you know the FIA...

 

[VIPFREAK]

Wow, that ****ing sucks.

R.I.P. Micheal Park

 

[FastEddie12]

Surely a sturdier rollcage would be a better suggestion, Famine? (Even though they are strong already.)

It's very difficult to survive hitting a big tree the wrong way when there's that much momentum. Jim Clark died hitting a tree at Hockenheim.

Sympathy to his family and to Markko.

 

[Milliethemutt]

Condolences to his family and friends.

 

[-Fred-]

Anyone want to bet we'll see restrictions (probably tyre) to slow the cars down after this?

Hitting a tree door first at 80mph or so will not leave you with much chance, tire restrictions or not.

With that said, I was completely shocked when I heard those news. Wonder how Markko's going to pull through...

 

[daan]

Hitting a tree door first at 80mph or so will not leave you with much chance, tire restrictions or not.

Yep, in a car vs tree situation, the tree always wins. A stronger roll cage wouldn't help either.

It is indeed a sad day for motorsport.

RIP Michael.

 

[Famine]

Didn't stop them screwing Group B over - and WRC are significantly faster over stages than Group B because they preserve momentum better. So no doubt the FIA will attempt to introduce restrictions to slow the cars down through corners - and #1 will be tyres.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Lost for words, its just unbeleivable, i cant beleive it.....

RIP Michael "Beef" Park.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Why tires in wrc much of the racing is about grip so surely lesser tires equal lesser grip meaning people are more likey to run off the track. Or is it because the deadly crashes are high speed so with rubbisher tires the drivers will driver slower.

 

[Tornado]

Didn't stop them screwing Group B over - and WRC are significantly faster over stages than Group B because they preserve momentum better. So no doubt the FIA will attempt to introduce restrictions to slow the cars down through corners - and #1 will be tyres.

Not nescesarily. An even easier way would be to limit the horsepower. I don't see how lowering tire traction in an attempt to lower speed would help any, because that would just make cornering more dangerous.

 

[Famine]

It's how they did it in F1... Reduced tyre grip = reduced cornering speeds.

They already limit power - to 300hp.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Has anyone seen any footage of the incident?

The police seemed to have put a pretty tight cordone on the crash site, but I imagine some amatuer photgraphy/video will appear soon.

 

[Sharky.]

R.I.P Michael Park.

They already limit power - to 300hp.

Maybe it's time for 250.

And wouldn't reduced tyre grip make it easier to have an accident as you can't stay on the road as well?

 

[Famine]

Worked for F1...

EE - There seems to be some sort of embargo on it. WRC on C4 was pulled. BBC and Sky aren't reporting it, though it appears on their teletext service. I have seen 4 pictures so far - not terribly graphic, but the passenger door is stuffed in up to the centre of the car so the fact the passenger died isn't surprising. It seems to have been a simple sideways moment just catching a tree at exactly the wrong part of the car.

 

[L8 Apex]

Damn shame, though I'm surprised someone hasn't been killed sooner. If I were the FIA, I'd immediately cut the power to 200 and torque to 200 lb./ft, ban active diffs, install electronic speed limiters that kick in at 100 mph, and redesign roll cages and seats. Then carry that rule package into '06 for practicality purposes, but rewrite the rules for '07 to ditch the turbos, ditch the sequential trannys, slash the downforce levels by reducing the allowable wing surface area, and install production-style side-impact and side curtain airbags to supplement all of the previously mentioned changes.
I know that all sounds very radical and knee-jerk reactionary, but maintaining the status quo of barreling between trees and crowds of spectators at 120+ mph would be nothing short of suicidal.

 

[RexKwonDo]

Just heard the news. I remember seeing him on segments on rally magazine last year. Seemed like a really good chap.

RIP

 

[vtec_guy]

Has anyone seen any footage of the incident?

The police seemed to have put a pretty tight cordone on the crash site, but I imagine some amatuer photgraphy/video will appear soon.

I hope there isnt any video footage or photographs of it. Why you'd like to watch a rally heroe die I dont know.


My heart goes out to Michael as well as all his friends and relatives.

 

[Greycap]

When Toivonen and Cresto died in 1986 FIA had an alternative to the rocket-fast Group B cars: the Group A. Now they don't have anything to replace the WRCs but the Group N and I don't think it's the future of rallying.

But something has to be done and I don't think lowering the power helps at all. If the drivers now brake from 200 km/h to 150 km/h in the corner, then they would brake from 160 km/h to 150 km/h and there was no difference in cornering speeds. The only current solution is to change the tires and strengthen the cars.

Changing the rules for next season might be too late now so big changes in technology aren't possible. But active diffs are going to be banned anyway so it helps a bit, i hope.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I only found out half an hour a go. RIP Beef, you will be missed.

Group A didn't guarantee safety either though. In 1993, Possum Bourne's (another driver who sadly isn't with us) co-driver Rodger Freeth was killed when their Subaru crashed heavily on the eighth stage of Rally Australia.

 

[DQuaN]

I read this in the paper this morning. Very sad

Rest in peace.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Indeed, it is sad. I thought that the replacement podium ceremony (all crews stood in front of the podium, co-drivers in front, heads bowed) was very touching.

I think that the death of Group B was because the cars were fundamentally flimsy. The current vehicles are not. The only thing the FIA could really mandate is some form of crash testing, specifically side-impact poles. I don't know what crash-testing there is done of rally cars at the moment.

Oh, and I thought that Active Differentials were banned as of 2006?

 

[Tornado]

It's how they did it in F1... Reduced tyre grip = reduced cornering speeds.

They already limit power - to 300hp.

Yes, but you'll probably agree that F1 is fundamentaly a different type of driving. What I'm saying is that limiting tyre traction would not decrease speed but increase danger because most drivers would still drive as they did before, only less safely. Because most of a turn in a rally car is not under traction anyways, I think all it would do is make it harder to stop.
Also, I know the rally cars are limited to 300 BHP. However, what I'm saying is that while the horsepower is comprably low, the current WRC cars go faster than the old Group B cars. So, primarily lowering speeds would be to decrease horsepower (lets say, 240 BHP) since it would decrease all speed aspects through a course (accerleration, top speed, and thus, handling speeds) and would do more than limiting tyre traction (which would only limit acceleration and braking).

I hope there isnt any video footage or photographs of it. Why you'd like to watch a rally heroe die I dont know.

Maybe he wants to see what happened to cause this. Further review of something usually helps understand what happened.