Porter death casts shadow over Bathurst.

[nota]

Oh man i to was expecting him to pull through bad news.............. RIP Mark Porter

Right from immediately after the incident it always looked very ominous for poor Mark Porter

Reports on his condition became notably absent, in contrast to the other guy. In situations like this it's this lack of reportage that often tells the story, grim as it is

One disturbing aspect (also remarked on by a TV commentator, as it unfolded) was the length of time it took marshalls to come to Porter's assistance. And disappointingly, when assistance was provided (both marshall & medical) it initially seemed to all centre around Clark's machine. No one appeared to check on Porter's breathing for quite a while ..

Not wishing ill to Clark, but while watching this race Clark's car came to my attention as he did seem to be involved in several iffy moments, pre-crash. I do remember thinking to myself "this guy is out of his depth" and when I saw the crash occur it was "Yep, its that silver Ford again"

Wasnt there another bad crash in which Mark Skaife was involved in?

Skaiffe's race was effectively lunched on the startline with a fried clutch, and for tasty dessert we were served the sight of him struggling for speed past Turn One, then get Liberace'd in the firmest of ways (fittingly by a 'tailender' young Jack Perkins) while only half distance up Mountain Straight, on lap one

[2ndclasscitizen]

Dunno if this still holds true, but an annual Oz medical statistic from some years ago revealed that more Aussies suffered a serious 'aquired brain injury' through horse riding, than through (the supposedly more perilous) riding of motorcycles

That's good to know. I'll point that out to my friend who rides horses if she gets worried about me being on a moto.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Horses Smell, Fart and Occasionally Run away.

Give me a Smelly, Backfiring Manic Moto anyday

[nota]

^^ Yeah, two sets of brakes is better than none

[charged]

Right from immediately after the incident it always looked very ominous for poor Mark Porter




Not wishing ill to Clark, but while watching this race Clark's car came to my attention as he did seem to be involved in several iffy moments, pre-crash. I do remember thinking to myself "this guy is out of his depth" and when I saw the crash occur it was "Yep, its that silver Ford again"

I know what you mean Nota, he looked like one of those guys with plenty of money but not much ability. We have a guy in S.A Mark Parpendel who is the same. He has plenty of money and can fund a race team in the Fujitsu series, but isnt really up to speed on the ability stakes.

On other tracks the lack of ability isnt that noticable except for wowfully slow lap times. At a place like Bathurst it will show up especially at the top of the mountain.

Personally I dont think you should be allowed to buy a drive by funding your own team. The series should just be for rookies and maybe an age limit should apply.

Again condolences to Mark Porters family, its absolutely tragic. This accident has had more of an affect on me than Brockies, as Brock had lived a good life and sadly Mark Porters life had only just begun

[nota]

In an odd way, both the Porter/Clark event (incident meets potential-accident) and the loss of Brock kinda reminds me as a combo of the late Gregg Hansford's final race, another sad loss of an extremely talented 'been there - done that' guy


Clark has received accolades via media for his 'heroic' driving response, when confronted by Porter's striken car. Can't claim I as a driver could have done any better AT ALL, under the circumstances faced by Clark .. but 'throwing it sideways' (speedway-style) and hoping for the best, is not the premier way to go, imho

[SlickHolden]

You did not upset me at all, I (contrary to most of my contributions) tried to be sincere as well.

Thank you for your kind words

[whiteballz]

i dont want this to sound morbid, but i havent seen the incident, and i am interested to see what the "'heroic' driving response'" was.
does anyone have a link to a video of the incident?

[fpv_gtho]

There'd been reports from some drivers following Clark that his car was leaking oil, and some thought that may have contributed to his initial spin. I havent heard anything from the officials about it however.

[2ndclasscitizen]

i dont want this to sound morbid, but i havent seen the incident, and i am interested to see what the "'heroic' driving response'" was.
does anyone have a link to a video of the incident?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG6V8MmsU3s

Basically he came round the corner and deliberately spun it sideways to avoid t-boning Porter's car. If he had've hit him straight on in the door, Porter would've been dead on impact

[whiteballz]

so clark hit porter? and porter died? am i correct?

was porters car already damaged when clark hit it? the massive impact in the drivers door was only fom clark?

[2ndclasscitizen]

Clark (Silver Falcon with no advertising) hit Porter (yellow Commodore). The massive impact on the door is only from Clark, there may have been some damage from Porter's initial crash, but nothing like the resulting damage. The rear end damage to Porter's car came from it being struck by Chris Alajahjan's (sp?) Elf Commodore just after becoming stationary

[2ndclasscitizen]

Personally I dont think you should be allowed to buy a drive by funding your own team. The series should just be for rookies and maybe an age limit should apply.

Porter owned his team, Hyundai Construction Equipment was his company.

[nota]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG6V8MmsU3s

Basically he came round the corner and deliberately spun it sideways to avoid t-boning Porter's car. If he had've hit him straight on in the door, Porter would've been dead on impact

From my view of it on TV, Clark ended up pretty much directly hitting Porter in the driver's door anyway. That was the point of initial impact for the Commodore, nor did the Falcon wash off speed through striking the wall beforehand. After throwing the car sideways, Clark effectively became a passenger and that was it

[2ndclasscitizen]

From my view of it on TV, Clark ended up pretty much directly hitting Porter in the driver's door anyway. That was the point of initial impact for the Commodore, nor did the Falcon wash off speed through striking the wall beforehand. After throwing the car sideways, Clark effectively became a passenger and that was it

Yeah, but it coukd've been much much worse if he had've hit him at race pace head on