"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000)
"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000) |
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4th March 2002 | Wednesday, 5 February,
Driver's 'speed festival' death
Marshals guard finishing line at the Festival of Speed
A man has told how he fled from the path of a racing car seconds before it crashed killing two people.
Bob Bidmead told an inquest he knew the car was out of control as it emerged from a corner at the Goodwood racetrack, Sussex. He said he had been surprised the car had not slowed and he turned to run as the vehicle collided with the gantry.
The crash, which happened in June 2000 during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, claimed the lives of racing driver 59-year-old John Dawson-Damer and marshal Andrew Carpenter, 40.
Mr Carpenter, from Polegate, East Sussex, died from his injuries at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester.
Australian Mr Dawson-Damer was killed when his Lotus 63 sports car struck the finish line gantry.
The inquest in Chichester heard Mr Dawson-Damer did not lift his foot from the accelerator of the car as it veered out of control.
The hearing is expected to take several days. Thursday, 6 February, 2003, Death crash gantry 'was not approved' A senior safety official has told an inquest into the deaths of two men at the Goodwood Festival of Speed he could not remember seeing the finish line gantry in an inspection of the track. John Symes said he had not been asked to approve the gantry and might have made some adjustments to it if he had.
Amateur racing driver John Dawson-Damer, 59, and marshal Andrew Carpenter, 40, died in a crash at the West Sussex race track in June 2000.
Mr Symes, from the Motor Sports Association, told the inquest in Chichester he had driven around the circuit before the start of the festival, checking straw bales and barriers. But he said he could not remember seeing the finish line structure which Mr Dawson-Damer hit in his Lotus 63 sports car when it veered off the track in front of thousands of spectators. He also said the Goodwood Road Racing Company had not asked him to inspect and approve the gantry.
The Australian driver, brother of the Earl of Portarlington, died at the scene. Mr Carpenter, from Polegate, East Sussex, was one of two marshals to be hurt and died from his injuries at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester.
The inquest is scheduled to last until Friday.
Friday 7 February 2003
Accident verdicts on race track deaths
Verdicts of accidental death have been recorded on a driver and marshal who died after a crash in a motor race. But, while the verdict on the driver was unanimous, not all the jurors agreed the marshal died accidentally. Only six of the eight jurors agreed, but the coroner accepted a majority verdict.
The two men died in June 2000 after the crash in a race at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Amateur racing driver John Dawson-Damer, 59, from Australia, died instantly when his Lotus 63 sports car left the track and hit a finish line gantry at the West Sussex circuit.
Marshal Andrew Carpenter, 40, who was hit by the car, died in hospital in Chichester from his injuries.
West Sussex coroner Roger Stone told the jurors there was insufficient evidence to suggest either man had been unlawfully killed. He said some safety officials may have made errors of judgement but nobody at the Goodwood track had been grossly negligent. After an hour-and-a-half of deliberation the inquest jury returned to the courtroom to say they had agreed a unanimous verdict on Mr Dawson-Damer and a majority verdict on Mr Carpenter, of Polegate, East Sussex.
After the inquest, Mr Carpenter's fellow marshal, Steve Tarrant, who lost a leg in the accident, said he thought there was proof safety officials should have vetoed the gantry structure and that if it had not been there, Mr Carpenter would not have died.
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