The second week of the lawsuit brought by the family of pilot Ayrton Climo began Monday. The second witness for the defense in this lawsuit for damages for more than $ 26 million believes the driver arrived too quickly and with excessive amplitude to allow him to return his kart on time and avoid contact with the wall.
Christian Parent was the flagman who was assigned to be 5 at the time of the accident in 2014. He was in his 4th year as a volunteer flagman in Monaco de Trois-Rivières.
Last week, 2 prosecution experts concluded that the accident could have been avoided if Turn 5 had been laid according to plan or if plastic barriers instead of hay bales had been placed in the impact zone.
Note that Ayrton Climo was seriously injured when exiting the 5th corner in 2014. His rear tire hit a hay bale and he was ejected from his racing car. He went to the track and was hit by vehicles participating in the test.
He suffered severe head trauma and still lives to this day with the consequences of this accident.
Corrections made on the turn a few hours before the race
Christian Parent told the court he reported to the center a road problem at turn number 5, a day before the accident.
So according to him, on the day of the accident carried out concrete repair on the bend, so the vehicles are no longer destabilized.
The signalman also noticed that as skills grew, more pilots piled on repairs to eventually get out of the yellow line.
Christian Parenting is a category. Exit turn [celle d’Ayrton Climo]I immediately said to myself: “He won’t go around the corner”said the signalman.
The volunteer signaller said Ayrton Climo’s racing car was not destabilized by the cementing, on the contrary. According to him, the pilot arrived very fast and with excessive amplitude.
He said he raised his blue flag and ran toward the railroad, shouting at drivers to stop before colliding.
After the impact that drove Ayrton Climo into the middle of the track, he first saw him hit by the kart in the helmet, then passed his legs by another racing car before the third pilot stopped by hitting his rib.
Christian Parent said the bend was expanded in 2014 to give competitors a better view of the other course. Some riders complained that last year’s setup didn’t allow visibility outside the turn.
The signalman confirms that contacts and incidents have always been numerous in karting races and the year 2014 in Monaco of Trois-Rivières was no worse than the others.
The man is said to have been a signalman in 500 to 600 races. He said he had seen pilots ejected from their karts and sustained injuries after impact against a plastic slide.
He also noted that straw bales were regularly used during races, contrary to what witnesses said for the prosecution, especially in Las Vegas where he was often called to work.
Other defense witnesses will be heard in the next few days. Monaco, the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship and the National Motorsport Authority ASN Canada will try to convince judge Philippe Cantin that they were not responsible for the accident. .
There is information from Amélie Desmarais
Source: Radio-Canada
