19 replies to this topic

[JacnGille]

Worker dies at Road Atlanta

 

http://www.wsbtv.com...ideoVersion=1.0

[Widefoot2]

Worker dies at Road Atlanta

 

http://www.wsbtv.com...ideoVersion=1.0

Very sad - corner workers are underappreciated, but races couldn't run without them.

[RainyAfterlifeDaylight]

So sorry. Rest in peace.

[E1pix]

Oh, that is sad. I even recognize her from working Turn 7 at Petit last year.

Doubly-sad for bike racing, they've been through enough of late.

RIP.

[cpbell]

Very sad; marshals are often an afterthought, but they're always in the firing line and highly-trained marshals can and have saved several competitor's lives and prevented countless accidents.

[LeClerc]

So sorry. 

[paulb]

Damn, so sorry to hear about this. I've worked a handful of open wheel and sportscar street races and appreciate how fast things can happen when you are near the track.

Its a close knit community so her family should have a lot of support.

[FLB]

A friend of mine was friends with Jean-Patrick Hein, the marshall who was killed during the 1990 CART race at Vancouver. It's still painful.

 

Condoleances to her family, friends and loved ones.

[Afterburner]

Am proud to say I knew her personally. She was the radio tech at the track during many an event; I worked several club races in which she manned race control's communications. One of the sweetest people I knew, and I've had many a long conversation with her about racing and our love for the sport.

Last time I saw her was the Petit last year. She called me out, and I gave her a quick hello and a hug. Can't believe that was the last time I'd see her.

Godspeed, Hazel.

EDIT: Text article with more detail, in case you can't view the video.

http://www.thedrive....at-road-atlanta

Edited by Afterburner, 05 June 2017 - 00:22.

[Dangerpaws]

Very sad.  Rest in peace, Hazel...

[SKL]

Horrible news...      I started out as a flagger way back in the late '60's and we used to STAND right by the track holding various flags... surprised it didn't happen more often.

 

RIP.

[HeadFirst]

Very sad - corner workers are underappreciated, but races couldn't run without them.

 

Corner workers may be under-appreciated by some fans, but they are both appreciated and respected by competitors. RIP Hazel.

[kumo7]

RIP...

[B Squared]

As a survivor from being hit by the right-rear wheel and suspension assembly of Randy Lanier's March 86C on lap 99 of the 1986 Michigan 500, I am sad to see that a corner worker has lost their life doing something they cared so much about. I got lucky and only was out of commission for about a year. Yes, I went back to work CART Indy Car from 1988 to 1994, it was hard to let this sometimes perilous duty go.

[barrykm]

RIP..

[ArchieTech]

Motorsport literally couldn't exist without people like her. RIP Hazel.

[redreni]

RIP. So sad to lose one of the good people who make the sport possible.

[mclarensmps]

[Swck81]

I am so sorry to read it. My deepest condolences to the family and her colleagues at Road Atlanta.

[MarkWRX]

Rest in Peace, Hazel. Like SKL, I got my start flagging in the late 60's / early 70s when the Arizona Sports Racing Association had a race I decided to spectate, only to be told that unless they had a certain number of marshals, there would be no race. They gave me a flag bag, about 10 minutes of training and yes, we stood right on the edge of the track, often with nothing between us and the cars. At one race, at PIR in Phoenix, one of two brothers who raced AMCs spun and stalled at my corner, the front half of the car on the apex. I was waving the yellow flag, and the driver was shouting at me to push start him, which I wasn't going to do. The flagger upstream was also waving his flag, so ran to the car and started to push it off the track and made a rookie mistake of having my back to traffic (it had something to do with the angle of the car, but it was still a dangerous error). I heard a car approaching and the driver of the car I was pushing yelled 'look out' and over my shoulder, I see the brother's AMX coming at the apex, full tilt. I literally jumped on the hood of the stalled car, and the yellow flag, in my left hand, got snagged by the right side mirror on the AMX.

 

Within minutes a tow truck arrived, followed by the Chief Marshal who yelled at me for a little bit, then had me fill out a report. At lunch, I watched the AMX being loaded onto it's trailer, the driver having been banned for the weekend.  I left for the Navy a month later and the person working turn 7 at PIR was waving yellow for Corvette that had spun. The driver floored it to get his rear tires out of the soft dirt and when they hit asphalt, he accelerated straight across the track and hit the marshal, killing him.

 

Being a flag marshal (8 years with the SCCA in the DC Region) was a fun, exciting job for someone who loves motorsports. The people are great and you will never get closer to race cars in their natural element. It's a risk we all took willingly, to let the show go on.

 

It will go on without Hazel, but she will never be forgotten.