Car race officials on death charges: [1 Edition]
John Stapleton AAP. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 Apr 2001: 5.
Show highlighting
Abstract
Police reported at the time that [Todd Wilkes] braked heavily following his speed trial, crashed through a barricade and into a concrete wall. The car burst into flames. Paramedics managed to re-start Wilkes’s heart but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at hospital.
Full Text
TWO motor racing officials were summonsed yesterday on manslaughter charges over the death of one of Australia’s leading drag racers at a Sydney raceway, and a further two officials are expected to be issued with summonses today.
Todd Wilkes, known to drag racing fans as “Judge”, died of multiple injuries and severe burns when his car hit a wall before bursting into flames at Eastern Creek Raceway on February 25.
Police suspended all operations at the raceway for several days following the accident. Wilkes, 29, a computer programmer from Queensland, was driving his street-legal Giocattolo, a twin-turbo V8 capable of speeds of more than 300km/h.
Police reported at the time that Wilkes braked heavily following his speed trial, crashed through a barricade and into a concrete wall. The car burst into flames. Paramedics managed to re-start Wilkes’s heart but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at hospital.
Two officials from the Australian Racing Drivers Club and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports were summonsed on manslaughter charges yesterday and will appear in Blacktown Local Court on May 17. A further two officials from the racing bodies are expected to be issued with summonses today.
The names of the officials have not been released. Both the ARDC and CAMS yesterday refused to comment on the summonses.