Sad day in tarmac rally today

stuartj · 11-19-2009, 07:34 PM

Yesterday was the first day of the Classic Adelaide Rally, and sadly Gary Tierney and David Carra, long time and very experienced campaigners, were killed in their beautiful 74 Carrera RS when they crashed about 4km into a 7km Special Stage on Thursday afternoon. Both died at the scene.

Very sad day in the Tarmac community.

MikeD930 · MikeD930's Garage

Yes, that's sad...godspeed to Gary and David.

masraum · 11-20-2009, 05:12 AM

Wow, that really sucks. I guess if you've gotta go out prematurely, you may as well do it quickly doing something that you enjoy.

Jeff Higgins · 11-20-2009, 05:18 AM

My prayers go out to their families and friends. A rather stark reminder that the sport we love can be so very unforgiving...

MBAtarga · 11-20-2009, 05:48 AM

Wow! I would have expected a roll cage and racing harnesses would have prevented a deadly outcome. Would Han's devices made a difference?

livi · 11-20-2009, 05:55 AM

Very sad indeed.

ckissick · 11-20-2009, 06:19 AM

Normally I would bemoan the loss of such a car. But it's only a car. There are more important things in the world.

Tishabet · 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Wow, that really sucks. I guess if you've gotta go out prematurely, you may as well do it quickly doing something that you enjoy.

Totally agreed.

I read the press released on the rally site but they didn't go into too much detail... from the picture it doesn't seem like this should have been a fatal wreck, the cage looks fairly intact.... but then again you can't really see the driver's side of the car. A sad day for sure

berettafan · 11-20-2009, 07:53 AM

damn sorry to hear. have been tossing the hillclimb idea around in my head lately and this surely is a reminder of how serious it is.

hope this doesn't cause a decrease in participation as tarmac rally is so very very neat.

berettafan · 11-20-2009, 07:56 AM

beautiful comment by someone named jeff hogg on the adelaide site. asks the families to remember the joy these guys took in what they were doing.

it must be tough reconciling the selfish acts we all engage in (be it racing, boating, hunting or whatever) with the potential to leave a family behind. yet life without these things would be just awful for anyone with a soul.

Rikao4 · 11-20-2009, 08:18 AM

assuming those are their skid marks..
what happened ?

if not.
someone has tagged that tree before..

Rika

Laneco · 11-20-2009, 08:23 AM

Jeezus that was a hard hit... Godspeed good men and strength to your families...

angela

tcar · 11-20-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tishabet

but then again you can't really see the driver's side of the car. A sad day for sure

Except that in Australia, the driver's side is normally the right side of the car.

Can't tell from the pic if the car is RHD or LHD (imported).

stuartj · 11-20-2009, 01:52 PM

Thats a RHD car. Im told there is much intrusion on the left side of the car and that the crash was preceded by a fast crest and a righthander,and there is nearly 100mtrs of rubber down the road. So whatever happened, as always, it happened well up the road and at high speed.

The cars the competitive section of these events are fully caged, race seats, harnessed. Most crews wear HANS, I would be surprised if not in this case, but looking at that through the drivers window in that photograph, maybe not. Im not sure a HANS would do much good in a sideways hit like that.

austin552 · austin552's Garage

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356RS · 356RS's Garage

Very sad news. God bless them and there families.

cameron.arnott · 11-24-2009, 12:44 AM

I was there competing - it was bloody hard to strap in and head out on the Friday .

RIP Gary & David

dewolf · 11-24-2009, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameron.arnott

I was there competing - it was bloody hard to strap in and head out on the Friday .

RIP Gary & David

Saw you at the prologue on Wednesday. I was going to come over and say g'day but I was chatting with Glen Seton.
Watched that RS take off on the prologue start..and my God that thing was blindingly quick. Drive that stretch of road often and those trees are big and unforgiving.
Regards to both families.

competentone · 11-24-2009, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Wow! I would have expected a roll cage and racing harnesses would have prevented a deadly outcome. Would Han's devices made a difference?

The human body has limits; exceed certain G-forces and things happen -- like the brain "sloshing" within the skull, or the heart tearing loose within the chest -- resulting in death.

I'd speculate that if the "hard barrier" (the tree they struck -- described in the article and shown in the picture) was not there -- and they could have rolled or skidded off the road surface to a more gradual stop -- the accident would not have been fatal.