Peter Jank - Sprints crash
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:23 amOur good friend Peter J. was injured in the Sprints second qualifier today. A mishap in the kink.
My recollection:
Bill Douglas was approaching the Kink while overtaking a slow moving (either broke or waiting for a drafting opportunity) car. Bill tried to time it so he would make a good pass but was a little off or the car changed its line/speed and Bill spun to avoid contact with him. Bill backed it into the outside wall and came to rest off the track. Next came Jim Grey with myself drafted right up to the rear of his car. Jim saw the action ahead and instinctively lifted or jinked for just a second but we made contact and both spun. Jim backed into Bill and came to rest a bit on the outside edge of the track. My spin left me stopped fully on the track toward the outside facing roughly down track None of us saw it but Peter apparently came thru just a couple beats later at full tilt and tried to turn inside which didn’t work. The aftermath looked like Peter was perpendicular to the track when he impacted my car.
The safety folks did a great job of cutting Peter out of the car and he was air lifted to the local hospital. The safety guys were calm and organized throughout a very difficult time. The info I have is that Peter suffered two badly broken legs, two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. He was operated on and all went ok and he is resting. Peter is a close friend and a terrific supporter of SRF and SCCA. He is always ready to lend a helping hand and bring a positive attitude to every situation. Get well buddy. We’ll miss you at the track.
My recollection:
Bill Douglas was approaching the Kink while overtaking a slow moving (either broke or waiting for a drafting opportunity) car. Bill tried to time it so he would make a good pass but was a little off or the car changed its line/speed and Bill spun to avoid contact with him. Bill backed it into the outside wall and came to rest off the track. Next came Jim Grey with myself drafted right up to the rear of his car. Jim saw the action ahead and instinctively lifted or jinked for just a second but we made contact and both spun. Jim backed into Bill and came to rest a bit on the outside edge of the track. My spin left me stopped fully on the track toward the outside facing roughly down track None of us saw it but Peter apparently came thru just a couple beats later at full tilt and tried to turn inside which didn’t work. The aftermath looked like Peter was perpendicular to the track when he impacted my car.
The safety folks did a great job of cutting Peter out of the car and he was air lifted to the local hospital. The safety guys were calm and organized throughout a very difficult time. The info I have is that Peter suffered two badly broken legs, two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. He was operated on and all went ok and he is resting. Peter is a close friend and a terrific supporter of SRF and SCCA. He is always ready to lend a helping hand and bring a positive attitude to every situation. Get well buddy. We’ll miss you at the track.