WERA racer Thomas Doherty, 53, of Chapel Hill, NC, died in a crash during LT WT practice at VIR Sunday morning.
Tom is survived by his wife, Pearl, and two children.
Cards, letters may be sent to:
Pearl Doherty
105 Umbrio Ln.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517-8336
God Speed Tom.
Please see www.wera.com for more information.
Not a good start to the year :'(
Godspeed Tom.
Stumpy
And the weekend before, a rider was fatally injured in a crash at Jennings GP in FL at a private track day. Had my son not blown his engine at Jennings, we were going to stop at VIR on the way home for the season opener. I'm afraid if we had and had seen another fatality we would have hung it up on the spot. I'm saddened by both, and the trauma of witnessing the passing of a fellow rider is an emotional drain. Godspeed to them both.
This has been a tragic few months. :'(
what happened? Anything we can all learn here?
My understanding is there were no witnesses. One racer gone and the other had a concussion and can't remember what happened. Apparently in a section of track though that is not good for passing. Somehow the two bikes tangled with bad results.
From what I read, wasn't it a practice crash. I know I have experienced many serious scares during practice session because everyone is not going at the same pace.
Can we all agree that practice needs to be practice where you should not take too many risks. Back off, because you don't know and can't expect the person in front of you to be working on the same things. In fact, most of the deaths I have read about in the past several years have occurs during practice.
Why does this have to be?
It is such a sad thing. My heart goes out to his family.
I think they were friends and one was expert and the other novice in lightweight practice they were riding together and both guys were in their 50's so I doubt it was an aggressive passing situation, just an unfortunate accident through the turn 5-6 area.
QuoteFrom what I read, wasn't it a practice crash. I know I have experienced many serious scares during practice session because everyone is not going at the same pace.
Can we all agree that practice needs to be practice where you should not take too many risks. Back off, because you don't know and can't expect the person in front of you to be working on the same things. In fact, most of the deaths I have read about in the past several years have occurs during practice.
Why does this have to be?
I know both riders and I knew Tom pretty well as I raced against him. I can assure you that he did nothing too aggressive or risk taking. It was not in his nature to do so. I did not see tha accident and we will never know for sure, but I would bet my bike that it was a totally random event. Both riders were conservative older guys just out having fun.
As an older guy that is racing for fun, I think that makes me feel more concerned, not less.
QuoteAs an older guy that is racing for fun, I think that makes me feel more concerned, not less.
Me too.
Not me you wussies :P Hammer down ;D
I am referring more to the fact that most of these unfortunate incidents occur when racers may not be at their peak of attention. My approach to practice is a steady build in my laps, mentally and physically. However, there are those that go out there with a different approach. Only in a race is everyone on the same page.
All I am trying to say is that let's all agree that during practice if you don't have a safe line around someone that is going slower than you (for whatever reason), back off and try again the next lap. If there are no more laps after this one, to bad, what til the race starts.
QuoteIAll I am trying to say is that let's all agree that during practice if you don't have a safe line around someone that is going slower than you (for whatever reason), back off and try again the next lap. If there are no more laps after this one, to bad, what til the race starts.
This should be the same during a race, if you are really faster and better than someone you can pass them clean. Too many club racing 'heroes' try stupid passes and the victim is the guy who never sees it coming. I'm still rebuilding my bike and body after the KG(2003 MW #1) tried to stuff it inside me in T2 after I cleanly stuffed him in T1 at Blackhawk. He nearly killed me and he definitely killed the bike.
QuoteIAll I am trying to say is that let's all agree that during practice if you don't have a safe line around someone that is going slower than you (for whatever reason), back off and try again the next lap. If there are no more laps after this one, to bad, what til the race starts.
This should be the same during a race, if you are really faster and better than someone you can pass them clean. Too many club racing 'heroes' try stupid passes and the victim is the guy who never sees it coming. I'm still rebuilding my bike and body after the KG(2003 MW #1) tried to stuff it inside me at 120mph in T2 after I cleanly stuffed him in T1 at Blackhawk. He nearly killed me and he definitely killed the bike. He was racing me and not the track and he knows this. He was very apologetic and had the balls to admit he was wrong.
I admire the new experts and the old ones who realise that they aren't Nicky and the races don't matter enough to justify killing your friends and costing them tens of thousands of dollars. This is club racing, give respect.
I know nothing of the incident at VIR so this does not directly deal with that incident.
Godspeed Tom!
Thats why I left the meat grinding 600 class. Sick of the bone head moves. I am near 30 and do this for fun. I am not the next Nicky and neither are the other 100 guys out there who think they are. I cant wait to get to expert and leave novice. Lets use our heads. BTW...I claimed a 3rd place podium at VIR :)
CBR Sean, is it really that different in the LW classes? I ride a 02 Kawi 600 b/c I'm 6' 200 lb, and it seemed like a "small" (600) bike that physically fit me. I also like being able to race in the HW classes and compete pretty evenly. But, if the LW classes are filled with more level headed people, I may trade it in for an SV (which I'm sure will cost me a fortune).
The lightweight classes have grown quite a bit since I started racing lightweights 3 years ago.
Yeah, the LW classes have grown a bit. And anything can happen in any class. I did it for that reason and because I was told the SV was fun to race and a little cheaper on tires (yeah right!--roasted a rear in 1.5 days) I had a blast on the SV. T-1 is still packed. THose V-Twins also inhale gas..man. I think I went thru near 15 gallons in 3 days.
QuoteAs an older guy that is racing for fun, I think that makes me feel more concerned, not less.
That's the nice thing about F40. Us level-headed older guys only generate about half as many red flags and ambulance rides as the young bucks... :o :-/
And just for the record. People have been telling me for 25 years that I was going to kill myself on a motorcycle. I'd be pretty dense if I didn't believe that they had at least a chance of being right. This sport is risky, but not as risky as doing the same thing on public roads. We accept this risk because we love to race. I really don't see a man dying while doing what he loves to be as tragic as a man dying of old age having never lived his dreams.
I don't mean to be harsh or minimize the loss. This is just the way I feel. Apology in advance for anyone offended. This wasn't meant to offend.
my first race was F40, and the guy that was coaching me through it to "take it easy" got involved in a two bike accident that killed his R6 and broke his ankle badly. So, I'm not so sanguine about F40.
I sounds to me like LW is just as crazy as MW, the smarter move may be to ride with the experts and perhaps I'll regret winning my petition to stay AM this year.
I've raced both, and I think lightweight is just a touch saner. As for F40, we have some fast old dudes in the midwest who'd rather eat dung than lose. We all ride GSXR 750s, too. It ain't exactly tea time. (And if I can find two more seconds, it's going to get worse...)
I've never raced in the MW classes, so I can't say how they compare. But in the LW classes, it seems most experts will give each other the room they need, and in general, try to make clean passes. It's competitive, no doubt, but most guys remember that everyone has to go to back to work on Monday in the real world...
I agree with Paul. I have found the LW classes to be less hectic than the MW classes. I used to race my TZ in ULGP rather than MWGP, and GTO rather than GTU.
Yeah, it seems as though a bunch of us LW guys are a little older. I enjoyed it more than ever last weekend and cant wait till next month. I have figured that at the start I just shoot to the front and try to get with the faster novices or tail end of the experts. Everyone seems polite on the track in the LW classes.