Tragedy at MotoAmerica Superbike race at Laguna Seca

[CB4ME_imp]

Two Spaniards were killed at the MotoAmerica Superbike race at Laguna Seca yesterday afternoon.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/07/20/mot...g-tragedy/

The crash was truly horrific:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZoLpx1huY

I reviewed the video frame by frame. One rider was literally engulfed by his bike and carried for a long way.

Very sad. My deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.

[Rocky_imp]

Very sad news indeed!
It's a very thrilling sport to take part in and to watch, but it can also be a very dangerous sport.
The rewards are great as long as nothing like this happens.

[redbirds_imp]

How tragic. It is so sad to hear of the deaths of these young men. My condolences to their families.

[offroadfx4_imp]

That is terrible! Sympathy to the families.

When you try to think of a way that could have been minimized I don't see any.

The sand obviously did what it was suppose to do, stop the bikes quickly but not instantly, but they way they flipped, makes you wonder if a slightly harder smoother surface like turf might have kept the front wheels from digging in so much? I did notice one rider was able to keep it straight and on it's wheels so maybe the sand wasn't too soft to maintain a straight path? Either way, dissipating that much energy has to happen some how, either with the sand or with the collision with the barrier (tires).


Hindsight is easy, but when tragedy happens it's only natural to look for ways it could have been prevented.

[kmoney_imp]

Was thinking about the sand too. It works well for stopping cars, but is probably not ideal for bikes where sliding to disipate crash energy is preferred.

Regardless this is tragic. I read the written accounts in the local paper yesterday and they were heart wrenching. Condolences to all affected/involved.