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Australian touring car driver dies from race crash injuries

A 27-year-old V8 touring car driver died yesterday from injuries received in a race crash on Saturday, Australian officials confirmed.

Ashley Cooper, of Ulladulla in New South Wales state, was critically injured when his vehicle hit a safety barrier at the exit of a corner at speeds of more than 200kph.

Cooper was attended to by senior medical personnel at the Clipsal 500 support race and was later taken by ambulance to Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he remained in a coma and on life support until his death.

He was married with two young children.

Race officials said Cooper had severe head trauma, swelling of the brain and internal injuries following the accident on the 11th lap of the second and final series race of the weekend.

Cooper made heavy, side-on contact with a safety barrier at the eighth turn. The initial contact was to the driver's side of the vehicle before the car veered across the track and hit the opposite wall with the rear-end.

It was the second fatal accident in less than two years in the support series for Australia's premier auto racing competition.

In October 2006, New Zealand driver Mark Porter was killed following an accident during the Bathurst 1000. He was 32.

V8 Supercars chief executive Wayne Cattach said a preliminary look at the footage of Cooper's accident suggested his car might have clipped the guard rail on entry to the corner.

But he said there was nothing to indicate any failure of the seat, his roll cage, straps or other safety systems.

"Our sport over-complies with the highest FIA [Federation Internationale De L'Automobile] rules for closed cockpit racing and most of our teams extend even beyond our own high standards with their own safety measures," Cattach told a media conference.

"Certainly there have been accidents that would appear far more severe than was the case here when drivers have walked away unscathed," he said.

"This one didn't look all that bad to me," Cattach said.
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