Driver Kurt Bull and his longtime friend Daniel King who acted as co-driver, were killed instantly when their car came off the track after crossing the finish line during a Roll Racing event at Queensland Raceway.
Bull and King were driving a highly-modified yellow Holden Monaro during a Roll Racing meeting for modified street cars over a short distance of time in a controlled environment. A strip on the Dick Johnson Straight of Queensland Raceway was hosting the "Roll Racing Brisbane" event between 18h00 and 22h00 on Saturday, 19 August 2017.
"Roll Racing" is a side x side acceleration test held on a track divided into three zones: the Rolling zone, the Run-up zone and the Race Zone, in which full-scale acceleration is expected until the finish line where speeds may reach 160 km/h (100 mi/h).
Reportedly, the throttle jammed open at the end of the Race zone, and the car failed to make Turn 1. It left the track at high speed slamming into a concrete wall at an acute angle, then rolled over coming to rest on its wheels and catching fire. The car suffered significant damage to the roof and both sides, front and rear number plates didn’t get touched, so the airbags did not deploy. Bull and King, who were from the Sunshine Coast region, were pulled from the wreckage with severe injuries. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. The meeting was suspended after the accident which happened about 20h40.
In the inquest carried after the accident was declared by the Police to be "misadventure", when King dropped the laptop that was controlling the engine program, and Bull did not spin the car around into the infield after going off the track. The brakes were clearly glowing, and the stop lights were on, but the engine totally overpowered the brakes. The circuit's operators were cleared of any responsibility for the deaths.
Kurt Bull, 32-year-old from Palmview, Queensland, Australia, was survived by his wife Janelle and their two daughters.
Daniel King, 41, of Mountain Creek, Queensland, Australia, left behind his partner, Carolyn Yates, his two sons, a daughter and two stepdaughters.
This was the second fatal accident which marred the Australian motorsport scene within a few hours. On Saturday afternoon Darren Clark lost his life in an accident during the Scottsdale Classic Rally held in Tasmania.
R.I.P
