The call was made after Brazilian stock car racer Gustavo Sondermann lost his life in an accident that occurred this past Sunday on the Interlagos track. As he lost control of his car in the aforementioned corner, he was later hit from behind by another car racing at full speed and sustained head injuries that ultimately led to his death.
The incident is almost identical to the one that happened 4 years ago at the exact same corner, when Rafael Sperafico also lost control of his car and hit the outside wall, but he returned to the racing line, where he was T-boned by another car. Following that incident, the organizers had installed “'softwall” barriers to stop cars that hit the wall from bouncing back to the track, but that method obviously did not work.
“Today I have asked the FIA to send an inspector. We have not found a solution to improve so now races will start with a yellow flag in that stretch,” announced CBA president Clayton Pinteiro, according to the Agencia Estado.
The solution, as Pinteiro sees it, would be to take down the grandstands on the outside of the Curva du Cafe corner and design a large run-off area instead. This way, should a driver wrongly approach that corner, his car will not return to the track in the high-speed zone.
“I think there is no other recourse than the expansion of the run-off area for this corner,” added the CBA official, who confirmed he can't proceed to any track changes until he gets approval from the Sao Paulo authorities and green light from the FIA.
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