Motorcycle blamed for race death

Kishy · Post by **Kishy** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:22 pm

July 25, 2006
From: AAP

MECHANICAL failure was to blame for a crash that led to the death of
a motorcyclist struck by a fellow competitor during a high-speed race on
Phillip Island, an inquest has been told.

Clinton Ian Farr died when he fell into the path of another competitor
travelling at more than 180kph during a race at Victoria's Phillip Island
circuit.

The 21-year-old came off his bike as he took a corner during a support
race for the 2001 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

A lawyer for bike maker Honda told the opening day of the Melbourne
inquest that a trailing motorcycle "ran into the middle of his (Mr Farr's)
back and went into the air".

Honda's lawyer Robert Taylor said Mr Farr lost control as he entered the
track's turn eight too fast, making him a victim of his own error.

But Ron Gibb, acting for the Farr family, said a mechanical failure on Mr
Farr's Honda CVR 600 motorbike was to blame for the crash.

The lawyer said connections for the motorbike's rear shock absorber
failed moments before the corner, rendering the bike unrideable.

"Under extreme racing conditions, the rear suspension linkages failed,"
Mr Gibb told coroner Paresa Spanos.

"There was a failure of equipment rather than rider error."

Mr Gibb also said there were two "strikingly similar" crashes involving
identical Honda motorbikes at Brisbane's Lakeside race track in 1999 and
another incident at Phillip Island in 2002.

Honda denies any mechanical fault, and is opposing the inclusion the two
other crashes as part of the inquest.

Mr Taylor said any damage to the suspension linkages occurred during
the "cart-wheeling" aftermath of each crash.

"These two crashes become a bucket full of prejudice with no probative
value," he said.

The coroner adjourned the inquest until tomorrow morning, when she will
rule on whether the inquest will take in evidence of the other two crashes.

Outside the court, Mr Farr's parents said the tragedy had forced them to
turn their back on motorcycling after 43 years of involvement in the
sport.

The Farr family said it was convinced that mechanical failure, not rider
error, caused the crash.

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:25 pm

But Ron Gibb, acting for the Farr family, said a mechanical failure on Mr
Farr's Honda CVR 600 motorbike was to blame for the crash.

Shit newspapers annoy me...

Kishy · Post by **Kishy** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:29 pm

The parents made the same allegations on camera Stereo.
They were on tonights TV News..

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:31 pm

Kishy wrote:The parents made the same allegations on camera Stereo.
They were on tonights TV News..

I know that reporters get it wrong on a very very very regular basis.... Having been involved with a few newsworthy events in my life.... I was a press media facilitator once and they got every fact I gave them wrong, even though I gave them a media bundle that outlined everything including all the facts...

why were your parental units on the tele bro?

Kishy · Post by **Kishy** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:59 pm

I'd be siding with the parents. They've pushed hard to have an inquiry
to get answers.. Now that it has been granted Honda, who Clinton rode
for have spent the day have spent all of today trying to not only narrow
down the scope of the inquiry but also fighting to have certain evidence
excluded.

That smells dirty to me.

Yep.. agree with you there.

I was involved in a death which was investigated by the state Coroner
& so had to be part of the inquiry after allegations were made by the
dead persons mother. The Coroner put a media ban on all my evidence;
suspended the inquiry and ordered the police to launch fresh investigations.

I was bombarded with calls from media to make comments outside of
the court room. I refused so the Herald Sun & Age newspapers then
printed big articles which were either fabrications or exaggerated truth
simply because they were banned from reporting what actually had
transpired & theres fuckall one can do about it. Ya just gotta deal with
the repercussions of their rubbish the best U can.

ps. I dont watch TV apart from the News. I watch the news, I read the
newspapers & then read the news online as well

I was reading the online website of one of the papers in London & seen
how George Michael got busted trawling for sex in public toilets once again
but the post got removed.

I'm always wanting to know what is happening out there..

Neka79 · Post by **Neka79** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:20 pm

worms..i see worms..whos got the can opener??

mechanic is now liable surely?? what if he had removed/re-fitted the shock??

the manufacturer of the linkages?? what if they were outsourced by honda??

how can u prove anything after a bike has cart -wheeled 6 times??

Kishy · Post by **Kishy** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:53 pm

No idea Neka..

Amazing what they can find out these days. Accident police do it at accident
scenes in determining how an accident happened. Airline investigate
ruins to find out what brought a plane down etc etc.

What the parents did say that other accidents have apparently happened
because of the same component(s) failing, & it is the evidence gathered
from these other accidents that Honda is trying to stop having to produce.

Burky · Post by **Burky** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:07 pm

2 main problems here the Media and Honda. Good on the parents for trying to get the answers but unfortunatly honda will throw as much money as they can to win this. Can you imagine a recall on CVR 600 bikes, what a lod of shit. then the media not seeing the news report but it will be another reason to put shit on bike riders.

Kishy · Post by **Kishy** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:11 pm

Thats it bro..

Money talks; shit walks. Amongst all the bullshit legal wrangling that goes
on truth sometimes comes out in the end; other times, a whitewash &
yet other times, an open verdict (total waste of everyones time).

My support will always B for the lil man fighting goliath.

MrsDuane · Post by **MrsDuane** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:16 am

Dont these race riders except the fact that on a daily basis they are going out onto a track and doing crazy speeds around corners, with lots of other people on bikes? And knowing that do they then not except the fact that if they come off any number of terrible things could happen?
Cars, bikes, train, buses, planes fail everyday. But if you want to take the risk of using them anyway thats your choice??

He rode the bike, he come off, he got run over! End of story. Sucks that the poor guy is dead but accidents happen.
He could have got stood on by a horse riding in a show jumping event and died, would his parents take the horse to court??

gco0307 · Post by **gco0307** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:57 am

I actually applaud the family for pushing and campaigning for the inquiry.

If there is an inherent problem with the linkage mentioned than I am sure that all riders of these machines would prefer to find out now and have it corrected than find out after waking up in a hospital (if they woke up at all).

The story mentions two other 'similar' accidents which does raise a concern (if true) but the models of the bikes differ by year so who really knows.

But the situation remains that it would require a qualified investigator to determine when the linkage failed (ie. before or after the accident) but there could also be video footage that is not mentoined but that shows 'something out of the ordinary' just prior to the loss of control.

I can also understand Honda's attitude by fighting the case heavily as they have a huge amount to lose (both financially and cusomer good will) and most businesses placed in their position would do the same.

Let the coroner determine and hopefully the report will be released.

mrsduane wrote:Dont these race riders except the fact that on a daily basis they are going out onto a track and doing crazy speeds around corners, with lots of other people on bikes? And knowing that do they then not except the fact that if they come off any number of terrible things could happen?
Cars, bikes, train, buses, planes fail everyday. But if you want to take the risk of using them anyway thats your choice??

He rode the bike, he come off, he got run over! End of story. Sucks that the poor guy is dead but accidents happen.
He could have got stood on by a horse riding in a show jumping event and died, would his parents take the horse to court??

There is a difference between a death as the result of an accident or incident and a death as the result of negligence or poor manufacturer.

In this case the parents believe (and who knows what real evidence they have to support this) that the death was caused by negligence or poor manufacture and have asked the courts (or coroner) to determine.

L-A · Post by **L-A** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:34 am

MrsDuane wrote:Dont these race riders except the fact that on a daily basis they are going out onto a track and doing crazy speeds around corners, with lots of other people on bikes? And knowing that do they then not except the fact that if they come off any number of terrible things could happen?

I imagine they do - but the rider isn't here to say that and perhaps his family doesn't accept that and are trying to find a way to understand what happened so they can deal with their grief?

L-A

stevew_zzr · Post by **stevew_zzr** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:29 am

I'm with neka - can of worms here! To be honest, it's going to be alot better for all of us if the family loses. Especially those of us who want to race our road bikes.

Insurance will go absolutely bananas if these kind of cases win, and i'm not talking about for road bikes, i mean track owners, the clerks of motorcycle racing events. It'll take what is a cheap form of motorsport and quadruple (or worse) the costs before you know it.

I know, i'm being selfish in saying that, but I accept the risk on the track, and i don't want someone else's stubborn refusal of the risk (that someone else took mind you) to come at a cost to me.

gco0307 · Post by **gco0307** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:45 am

stevew_zzr wrote:Insurance will go absolutely bananas if these kind of cases win, and i'm not talking about for road bikes, i mean track owners, the clerks of motorcycle racing events. It'll take what is a cheap form of motorsport and quadruple (or worse) the costs before you know it.

I doubt it that any track insurance costs will rise as the result of this case due mainly to it being an inquest which is al about trying to determine the exact cause of the accident that led to the riders death.

Even so, reading the article it appears as though the parents do not blame the track but instead blame the manufacturer of the motorcycle (Honda).

The only real way that insurance costs would increase is if the track was sued by one of the parties and the finding was against the track involved.

FrogZ · Post by **FrogZ** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:48 pm

..parents dislike bikes
...son dies
...parents look to blame someone

You ride a bike its dangerous, you take it to the track and its LESS dangerous BUT you are pushing the machinery a LOT harder.
Sometimes it breaks...
It was a Honda ROAD bike starting with a C** not a race bike starting with a R**.
Even if it was within its design limits (then why did it break?) you would have a hell of a time proving liability.
ANd some of the stuff ppl sneak past scrutineers at track days in an effort to get out there.
And as mentioned above, when was the last grease if ever?

Too many ifs, too many maybes, too many what ifs...
Can of worms or Pandoras box... all the same...