Pro Flat Track Racer Charlotte Kainz Dies In Santa Rosa Crash
RIP...
Wisconsin GNC2 racer Charlotte Kainz died yesterday from injuries sustained in a crash at the Santa Rosa Mile. In the second corner of her heat race, a rider in front of Kainz high-sided, and according to reports, she was hit by the tumbling bike and caught up in the resulting chain-reaction crash. Unfortunately, this appears to be a tragic racing incident of the type that can never be completely eliminated – though increasingly lessened through improvements in safety equipment.
Whenever a racer dies at an event, the natural reaction among racers and fans, alike, is to want to find a way to prevent this from happening again. If the racer is as young and popular as Kainz, who was just 20 years old, the instinct is even stronger.
Since Flat Track racing is one of the few motorcycle events that still take place with immovable track structures so close to the racers and the racing line, the almost immediate reaction to learning about a crash in Turn 2 is to acknowledge the possibility of riders impacting objects at the outside of the track. However, Kainz’s death apparently wasn’t caused by such an impact.
For now, we ask racers and fans to join us in holding the Kainz family in our hearts.
Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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Also, later Kyle McGrane crashed out of turn 4, and succumbed to his injuries Monday after.
Rip Charlotte and Kyle.
A great rider! RIP Charlotte.