The woman's name was Mary Wollesen, 54, from Clarkston MI. Her husband,
Ted, was also running his Mini during the session. The group included all
GT classes (1-5). There were complaints from drivers on Friday that it was
just too dangerous having these classes grouped together. The qualifing
session was black flagged for about 1 1/2 hours. A story in the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel said the Chief Steward indicated she probably died
instantly. The Chief Steward was quoted as saying "We don't believe the
size (disparity) of the cars had anything whatsoever to do with the
incident. It wouldn't have made any difference what size it was." To that
I say Bull ****! It might not be too much of a problem on a shorter,
slower course but not one like Road America. This was the second fatality
in the Kink area in the last couple of years - a driver was killed during a
Skip Barber school session.
There was also a red flag in the FA/FC race when a bunch of cars (8-10?)
tangled in turn 5. One flipped but there were no injuries.
What with the rain and the fatality it was not a happy weekend.
John Utter
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