Very, very sad

[JerryMather]

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=41763

 

13 year old Peter Linz Died this morning after crashing his 250 cc bike during a warm up lap.

[AZKomet]

Yes, very sad. So young and so much more of life ahead of him if not for this tragic event.

 

 

[MotorinLA]

Very sad, indeed. :frown:

 

More details of the story in this article.

 

Hopefully the 12-year old rider that ran Peter Lenz over will be okay emotionally.

 

The article speculates that this incident might spark debate over age restrictions for racers. Perhaps the debate should instead be about restricting use of the track when the conditions are too hazardous.

[pbbeck]

This is very sad. When I first saw this article, I prayed it wasn't one of the young riders I met back in April at Willow Springs. I have only recently become interested in racing as a good friend of mine has gotten involved in Ninja Cup racing. I was completely unaware that kids were allowed to race alongside adults until accompanying my friend to Willow this spring. I was blown away at what skilled andcapable riders these 10- and 12-year-olds were. I was most impressed by how much responsibility these youngsters were afforded by their parents. When the tendency is to shield children from the world these days, here were parents working alongside their kids in the pit and allowing their children to accept and manage risk in a constructive way. It's was refreshing to see.

 

Bad things happen. Not every tragic instance requires new legislation. I hope no new age restrictions are imposed on racing.

 

 

[beemerman2k]

Bad things happen. Not every tragic instance requires new legislation. I hope no new age restrictions are imposed on racing.

 

I couldn't agree more. While it is nothing short of tragic that this young man lost his life, he lost it doing something very constructive and that helps turn boys into men. This kind of accident is already quite rare, and in fact, I am surprised it doesn't happen more often among pro motorcycle road racers. These kids also grow up to become among the safest and best riders on the public roads as well.

 

I pray for all involved and especially the boy's parents. Having said that, all you can do is to salute that brave soul as he passes on to the next life.

[Antimatter]

I saw that on Soup yesterday and uttered an audible 'Oh, no!'. Peter Lenz was a rising star in a dangerous sport - one that has gotten much safter over the years, but still claims the lives of young people.

 

We have a couple of young riders who come out to local track days riding their Moriwaki (sp?) 250's. Both young men seem very grounded and are very quick out on the race track - I've been passed by both of them many times on both the short and long tracks I ride on. I pray that they have long and healthy careers.

[LuckyLeif]

Yes ..... sad. Also sad for the kid-rider who hit Lenz.

 

Read something about the IMS course having traction issues for practice sessions and races this weekend. Rossi is alleged to have slid out multiple times. I think the heat of the track caused people to run "harder" compounds. Not certain whether this would have a huge impact, but it could contribute.

[90%angel]

I was so sad to hear about this.

 

FYI, some fellow racers have started a site and are selling memorial stickers to help support his family.

 

Details here:

Peter Lenz Story

[Indy Dave]

This was indeed tragic. I was traveling and only became aware of his death as a result of reading about Shoya Tomizawa death. I'd not heard Peter Lenz, so I The Google brought up this video. I'm struck at how innocent and child-like (in a good way) this young rider was. With the helmet and suit on and riding like adults, the costume makes you forget it's just a (very fast) child out there.

 

[philbytx]

Yup! This was his third and, tragically, final crash. His second resulted in serious injuries. IMHO, and I've said this before, way too young to be risking life and limb at this level.

 

 

 

 

[JerryMather]

Yup! This was his third and, tragically, final crash. His second resulted in serious injuries. IMHO, and I've said this before, way too young to be risking life and limb at this level.

 

 

 

 

I understand what your saying and kinda feel the same. Knowing quite a few racers of all ages, I've noticed that there truely seems to be a passion within each one of them to be doing this, knowing full well that this could happen to them. Yet they all seem to put themselves out there trying their best to race responsiblly and avoiding necessary risks as much as possible.

Should a parent not allow these kids to do this? I'm not sure.

If it's something that he or she really wants and is good at it than maybe it's the right path for them. If a parent pushs them into it that's another thing and I would hope they move away from it.

[JTWright]

These were both tragic and Tomizawa's was more public as it was shown a couple of times on SPEED before they stopped showing it. It was also a bit disconserting that they obviously knew of the fatality when they ran MOTO GP on Sunday morning, since MOTO 2 runs first yet they acted like they didn't find out until late in MOTO GP. Then, the late afternoon replay of MOTO 2 had it announced during the race coverage. If you saw the video, the track marshalls actually dropped Tomizawa while carrying him from the track. Seems like the same thing happened to D. Kato in Japan when he was fatally injured.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but a bad word needs to be put said about the New York Times. I've been a regular daily reader for over 25 years, and NEVER have seen a single report on motorcycle racing yet they choose to give very indeapth reports on these two accidents. Reminds me of the Eagles "Dirty Laundry."

I race and believe it is safer than riding on the street. We don't know how young is too young, but we need look no further than the ages of those who are successful in MOTO GP now and, if I remember correctly, Valintino won his first world championship at 19. Young people start all sports pretty early now and that may not be a good thing.

There is modest comfort in knowing they were fatally injured doing something they both loved. Most of us probably won't get to say that.

Without knowing them, we know they were brave and will be missed.

 

Jim

 

 

[Bheckel169]

Imagine letting your own kids at age 12 race at 120 mph on a motorcycle. Is this craziness and a lack of commonsense? Even native indians trained their children to take on acceptable risk only after they had matured to a degree to understand the risks and responsibilities and life's dangers they faced; when they understood their own mortality. Have we become such hedonists we've abrogated our responsibility as parents and find this acceptable parental behavior? Dying bravely, dying doing what he loved, what hogwash? This kid probably thought he was immortal and shame on the parent for allowing his child to sacrifice his life for some hedonistic recreational activity.

Bruce

[russell_bynum]

Imagine letting your own kids at age 12 race at 120 mph on a motorcycle. Is this craziness and a lack of commonsense? Even native indians trained their children to take on acceptable risk only after they had matured to a degree to understand the risks and responsibilities and life's dangers they faced; when they understood their own mortality. Have we become such hedonists we've abrogated our responsibility as parents and find this acceptable parental behavior? Dying bravely, dying doing what he loved, what hogwash? This kid probably thought he was immortal and shame on the parent for allowing his child to sacrifice his life for some hedonistic recreational activity.

Bruce

 

 

Peter did not think he was immortal. He was a very mature "kid"...more mature than most adults I know, in fact. He understood quite well the risks of what he was doing and given that his dad was an ex-racer, so did he.

 

Also, as far as I can tell, ALL recreational activities are hedonsitic...otherwise what's the point?

 

Would I let my son (now 2 years old) race a 120mph motorcycle at 12? I dunno. It depends on a number of factors but I won't completely rule it out.