naza: quite true... I agree with you

I might be speculating here but this shows the importance of newbies to have enough track time so that it becomes natural to brake with the left foot. Most of the time we use the right foot for braking in our cars. When you panic, its only the training that could help!

like that y dont they write due to no traction control la... ABS la... all that kind of stuf...

hai... really a dumb reporter

250 kmh???? at elite..never seen any of those kinda karts before....im sure this is wrong info....4wd karts?...come on....

wth.. they even got the name wrong...

wat i heard was... a bunch of them was racing together, and on the last corner b4 the straights, a few was cutting fast into the corner.. and i think she panicked and went straight tru between some of them and went up the embankment and crashed down 6feet..
if only she hit those other karts she would have been saved..

can go up to 250kmph and a 4 WD?? IF this is true, then sabelt, you need to change your IMPREZA ...woohoo! lol

4WD
250kmh

Shame that some people like to sensationalize things when they understand very little to start with.

uhm...250kph...quite exaggerated dont u think? hahaha

Not only the article claims the kart can reach 250kph, it also claims the kart is 4WD! argggghhh

Here's a VERY interesting variation of the story claiming her kart reached 250km/h

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/World/Rest_of_World/F1_fan_dies_after_go-kart_crash_in_Malaysia/rssarticleshow/1876932.cms

SINGAPORE: A Formula One fan seeking a thrill died after the go-kart she was driving overturned and crashed into a track divider, news reports said on Monday.

Singaporean Chen Shu Li, 32, lost control of the vehicle while negotiating the final bend at the USJ Go-Kart Track on Saturday in Sepang, Malaysia.

She had travelled to Sepang with her husband and three friends to watch Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur contacted Chen's family in the city-state, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was the mother of two children.

Industry sources told the newspaper that Chen may have blacked out because of high G-forces. Referring to gravity's effect on the body, the G-force is multiplied when one accelerates to high speeds.

The four-wheel drive go-kart Chen was using can reach speeds of up to 250 km per hour and is usually reserved for professional racers. Novices usually drive "benign" vehicles with a top speed of 60 km per hour, making the sport "quite safe," he was quoted as saying.

Think of the worse case scenario:

Assuming the women driver was a complete novice, she somehow drove straight into the sand embankment at top speed, panicked and kept her right foot planted on the throttle because she was too stunt to think what her reaction should be.

Now lets assume all this happened at top speed (60kph?) and there was her impact was enough to get her front wheels up the embankment. From then on, unfortunately her rear wheels caught on to something grippy and since her throttle was full it provided enough traction to bring the kart over the sand embankment.

The 1 meter fence may be an exaggeration. It could have been lower. OR, the fence could be quite low relative to the sand embankment.

Anyhow, there's no point in my coming up with theories now as the thruth will probably surface soon.

Cheers,

Brian.

whatever it is, driving on the road is much more dangerous than racing on the track.

another to add... and this applies to all tracks.
3) horribly maintained karts. how many of us have sat in karts with next to nothing brakes, bent chassis or misaligned axle that send u swinging the moment u hit the brakes. steering wheel that has screws that are protruding out in a dangerous manner and its ALL OK to drive around at 70kph without the front bumper absorbing any impact!!! screw your ankle and toes if u ever get caught in a collision.

i still remember almost falling into that big ass hole (entry turn 12) at shah alam track early last year...dunno whats the status now, but i remember the short term remedy was just filling it with tyres.

its really shallow to think that just because its a 9bhp kart, u are invincible and pretty much safe. well.. humans can expect trauma at a relatively low speed already. i remember another gokart death in melbourne last year, bear in mind the kart was a measly 6.5bhp and it was an indoor track.

i rather enjoy the thrills of driving slow in my car now.

my condelance to the family too....

hope this will be the last one happen!
save racing !

i feel is the front tires hitting the rear tires of the front kart?

should not happen on 4 stroke kart pa...

Ever thought that maybe the kart was running in the opposite direction? as in anti-clockwise? A tad hard to believe, but consider it.. That corner is the slowest corner, and if you're coming from where you should be coming normally, you'd be leaning right, then left, then full throttle ahead.. If you are coming anti-clockwise, then the slowest corner is turned into the most dangerous corner because you're at full throttle first, then try to break in time for that corner...

Think about it.. 4 stroke can get air-borne? at the slowest corner?.. with that sand embankment there?.. It's like going up a ramp.

cyclonite - you are right about the awkwardness of the 4 stroke kart flipping over the fence. some went horribly wrong somewhere, and we should learn from it.

Hi all,

I just thought it was rather ackward for someone to die in a 4 stroke leisure kart, which purpose is to allow slow and safe 'racing' for the general public. The use of these karts should be so safe that anyone can turn up at a leisure karting track to have some fun without having to worry about such consequences.

I see 2 points that we can learn from this:

1) Perhaps the minimum driver's protection gear should be increased, ie: make rib cage protector and neck brace mandatory just like helmets

2) Perhaps there was a weak design of the track or one of the safety components( eg: the sand embankment) of that track at that corner

Best Regards,

Brian.

pink is cool ... its different .. its chic ..its me hahaha.. black and pink hmmm .. im getting a suit colour to be advise most likely is the sparco pink

pink suit?? nooo...i'm opening a thread on this!!

you're correct darling, early prevention is a must..like..getting yourself a racing suit! when can I see you in a gorgeous pink sparco suit!?? hehehe

Hi guys .. my heart goes out to the family of the deceased .. being extremely new and considering myself as a "baby" in this motorsport i must say my adrenaline rush are mixed with fear at the moment . Nevertheless i will not give up easily and pursue to be at least a "good" (im far below average at the moment ) lady racer

Risk improvement measures should be top priority for all parties during the meeting .. put up rules and regulations clearly huge fonts if necessary,do's and dont's clearly at the wall of the track .. with pictures if need be .. our brains tends to digest/process colours and pictures better than datas/words ..i dont see that at the tracks.

Maintenance of the track is important factor as well, no driving on wet tracks etc , it was raining on saturday ya (??!!) .. b4 signing your life away to the insurance company the operator should at least educate the public or provide flyers on the karting do's and donts(if they dont like to be repeating the rules again and again)then allow them to drive .. but then this tragedy is fated. We had to lose a life to open other eyes and minds .. Lets not point fingers but hope to see better risk mgt/improvements in future.

once again pls hold judgement on the track operator and owners. if there's anything to discuss with them, let's do it directly with the respective parties. bear in mind, my-kart forums are open to public viewing... i know that a number of the motorsports authorities and related parties visit our site once in a while...

Sigh, I feel so sad to hear of such an accident. Karting is supposed to be fun. Can't imagine how a harmless outing can be come a tragedy.

I have had a few close calls when racing at that track in the past. Even a few of my Shell colleagues have also experienced it too.

I have never liked this track. It's just too dangerous especially if you are racing a high powered kart. I heard that in the past, their tyre barriers were filled with sand which offered no protection to the karter but instead do more harm.

My condolence to the deceased family.

Taken from the clipping of NST
http://www.nst.com.my/NST/Article/vArt?did=20070409074141

She was karting on a 4T kart.

folks - i hope you spare any judgement on the kart operators or the circuit owners, or anybody else. i spoke to kartquest to express my regrets as this impacts us as much as them.

this is a most difficult time for the karting community in the country. i hope we do not see any knee-jerk reactions here. i for one will be planning to see kartquest and some of the authorities (malaysian motorsports commission - yusnee, can you help arrange a meeting with en nordin) other operators and possibly aam. i would like to ensure that when we emphasise safety that it would not be at the expense of killing the sport.

let's allow the police to do their investigation and learn from the outcomes of what happened.

Condolence to the family of the deceased..

(my condolence to the karting enthusiasts as well) as this will create a big impact to our passion..as we have been talking abt SAFETY in most of our forums.. all I can say is that never take safety lightly/for granted..it may cause our lives.. so risk assesment should be taken effect..and also safety briefing should be taken place at any times even to the experienced karters ...better be safe than sorry...

This is really a terrible event. So sad to hear that someone has lost their love one over a karting incident. track management has been bad at Speedway with lotsa sharp objects lying in the run off area. and is one of my favourite track.

There is once i was practising on the 100cc with a buddy. was following him behind and there was a big stone at the racing line. My buddy's kart picked up the stone and flung it at me following right behind. it hit my helmet visor so hard until i have to slow down because of a spilt second SHOCK.
Imagine the stone hit my neck ?? i would be dead .

I really feel sad for the gentlemen who lost his wive over this incident.
damnn.....

My condolence to the deceased family.

I had a goose bumps when I read about it in the paper this morning. I really hope they will improve the safety condition at the track. We must always take into consideration that think might go wrong at anytime without notice. So safety is very important.

Perhaps there should be more publicity and reading materials about track homologation? The homologation papers should be prominently displayed at the tracks, and more notice board posters on safety.

I remember getting into a kart for the first time, I wasn't told anything at all, nor was there anything to read about precautions/safety/driving.