Grand Prix Rejects

Autosport wrote:MRT RoLFS driver Nobushige Fukuda dies at Kyoto Ring

Japanese driver Nobushige Fukuda has died in a tragic on-track accident at the penultimate round of the Rejects of LFS championship at the Kyoto Ring.

The 27 year old was a lap down and recovering from an earlier incident, when he was hit from behind by Tristan Jung. This pitched his car into multiple rolls, with the car eventually coming to rest upside down right in the middle of a fast section of track. Only seconds later, ignoring yellow flags, Tanner Jason came flying in at full speed and t-boned Fukuda's stranded MRT, sending the car high up into the air and smashing off the advertising hoarding above the track.

Fukuda had sustained multiple head injuries, his head smashing directly into the solid advertising hoarding above the track. He was taken directly to the nearest hospital, but died mid-flight while being helicoptered there.

This is the first fatality for the Rejects of LFS series, a championship known for its wheel-to-wheel nature and intense racing. Series organisers have yet to release a statement on the matter.

Daniel Melrose wrote:Words cannot describe how horrible I feel right now. Nobushige has been a cornerstone in our junior team for the last few months, and through all the turmoil, he's helped to galvanise the team as we looked forward to next season and working with him full-time. And then, to have this happen is just devastating for the entire team, and for myself personally as this has easily been the worst day in all my years in motorsport. On behalf of myself, the entire MRT Group and the nation of Tropico, Rest in Peace Nobushige Fukuda.

Il Barone Rampante press statement wrote:Today is a low point in the history of our team, and motorsport in general. We have lost one of the drivers who had been part of our racing family for the longest, Nobushige had been working with us for several years now. He was a devoted professional, completely commited to his job and an excellent human being away from the track as well. His career was still growing, testing F1RWRS cars and already with a race contract in 2016. He was the most hard-working, commited driver I have ever seen, and it is a great loss for both ourselves and Melrose Racing Team to suffer. Our condolences to his family and friends.

Alasdair Lindsay
CEO, Il Barone Rampante

Jason Hamilton wrote:I am shocked and saddened by this death, I spoke to Fukuda several times and he seemed like a really nice person. My condolences to his family

A statement from Fusion Motorsports wrote:Today, we are saddened to learn of the passing of Nobushige Fukuda. He was a highly talented racer, and a very personable man. We had held negotiations with him regarding an RoLFS seat for 2016, and although the negotiations came to nothing he came into them with nothing but ambition and impeccable manners. He is a man that continued to do what he loved: racing, despite the dangers that come with highly competitive motorsports. Our condolences go to his family, and it will be apparent that Alitalia and MRT will be worse off without his presence. We will mark our cars with a special tribute message for the Nippon Super 200 in his memory. RIP, Nobushige Fukuda.

Best Regards,
Jake Legge, Owner/Team Principal of Fusion Motorsports.

John Zimmer wrote:I'm incredibly saddened by the passing of Nobushige, he was a very talented racer and a very respectful and kind person in the paddock. My condolences go out to his family and friends, and ZimSport will honour his memory at the Super 300 by running black wings on both of our cars.

Jarno Toivonen, RoLFS spokesman wrote:It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Nobushige Fukuda in an accident during the Kyoto Ring final. Fukuda spun off the track on lap 20 of 24, and only managed to recover two laps later. Unfortunately, he rejoined the track straight in front of Tristan Jung, who was unable to avoid a collision and the MRT car was sent into a series of barrel rolls. Fukuda's car eventually landed upside down, and as he was trying to make his escape from the wreck, Tanner Jason came down the straight with full speed, completely ignoring the yellow flags that were being waved and rammed straight into Fukuda who stood no chance of surviving the force of the impact. Fukuda was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival with severe skull fractures and cerebral hemorrhaging.

While motor racing always has the element of danger, it is still a sport, and sports should never cause sorrow. We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Nobushige Fukuda and the employees of Melrose Racing Team and Il Barone Rampante.

Tanner Jason is now permanently banned from all Rejects of LFS competition for showing complete lack of respect towards the safety of his fellow competitors, and we strongly encourage all major series to follow suit.

In light of these events, the RoLFS Commission has decided to shorten next week's Nippon Super endurance event to 200 kilometers from its originally scheduled running length of 300 kilometers. Additionally, we have asked Judd and Zytek to urgently send their engineers to Japan to make the engines less powerful in an effort to reduce speeds. Finally, the winner of this event will receive a special memorial trophy named after Nobushige Fukuda.

13th September 2015 will remain a black day in modern motorsport history.

Tristan Jung wrote:I am shocked and deeply upset after today's fatal incident. Although I could not possibly have avoided Fukuda's car, I still regret my involvement in the accident. My condolences to Nobushige Fukuda's family, friends, Il Barone Rampante and Mr. Lindsay. The entire Tarantino Autosport team echoes my sentiments.

Press Conference called at the team's base in Romford, England

The whole of the Plus One Group has been incredibly saddened by the tragic passing of Nobishuge Fukuda at the Kyoto Ring RoLFS event this weekend.His death comes a shock to the whole racing community.

Nobishuge was a beacon for the true values of racing. Often known as a journeyman, his career, although not distinguished, showed his commitment, and most importantly, love of driving was present in everything he did. I had the pleasure of meeting with him earlier this season trackside at Aston, and from this brief conversation, he proved to be the charming charismatic man I'd heard about.

His death should be taken as the stepping stone for a new era of safety and professionalism in RWRS. Let us learn from the mistakes of his undfortunate passing, and whilst remembering his life, be comforted by the fact he died doing the thing he loved most - driving

Our condolences go out to his family and friends in this difficult time

Luke Knight, Plus One Group

FMecha wrote: (because I feel the NationStates gimmick is no longer necessary)

Dean Melville wrote:If you spin out once, it's practically a guaranteed "Go directly to last, do not pass cars, do not collect pole position."

Winton Racing website wrote:All staff and members at Winton Racing wish to give our condolences to the family of Nobushige Fukuda and all of his loved ones after his fatal collision at the Kyoto Ring feature race. As this is motorsport, accidents like this are to be expected. We also wish to give our condolences to the Melrose Racing Team as while they were a new team to this series much like us, if it weren't for them we wouldn't have Nathan McKane driving in the main series.

Winton Racing will be using a modified livery for the Nippon Super 200 in tribute of Fukuda's death.

God speed, Nobushige, there's a never ending race in the sky awaiting.

Nuppiz wrote:Post-race investigation into Tristan Jung's collision with Nobushige Fukuda has revealed that not only were yellow flags out at the scene, but Jung also did not even attempt to avoid Fukuda.

Tristan Jung is hereby disqualified from the championship standings and banned from RoLFS competition until 2018.

AndreaModa wrote:Whilst this investigation seems only fair in light of what's happened in previous races, and the severity of the incident itself, we're setting a very dangerous precedent here for future events. To be honest, with the way the LFS AI works, I'm quite certain this won't be the last time an incident like this occurs, and it's not fair on the users of the drivers affected (whether injured or penalised) to be hit so heavily when the outcome was completely unpredictable. By that I mean, the fact that the drivers are all identical in terms of ability means it's not like there's some hotheads or crazy drivers in the field that have been programmed that way. That incident could have had anyone involved, the fact it was Tanner Jason who has a history of crashes and incidents has just fueled the "inquisition" that has followed.

In my opinion, the game used should be changed for 2016, because this is only going to happen again, and more drivers are going to get 'injured' or banned, and that's not very fair.

AndreaModa wrote:Whilst this investigation seems only fair in light of what's happened in previous races, and the severity of the incident itself, we're setting a very dangerous precedent here for future events. To be honest, with the way the LFS AI works, I'm quite certain this won't be the last time an incident like this occurs, and it's not fair on the users of the drivers affected (whether injured or penalised) to be hit so heavily when the outcome was completely unpredictable. By that I mean, the fact that the drivers are all identical in terms of ability means it's not like there's some hotheads or crazy drivers in the field that have been programmed that way. That incident could have had anyone involved, the fact it was Tanner Jason who has a history of crashes and incidents has just fueled the "inquisition" that has followed.

In my opinion, the game used should be changed for 2016, because this is only going to happen again, and more drivers are going to get 'injured' or banned, and that's not very fair.

FMecha wrote:

AndreaModa wrote:Whilst this investigation seems only fair in light of what's happened in previous races, and the severity of the incident itself, we're setting a very dangerous precedent here for future events. To be honest, with the way the LFS AI works, I'm quite certain this won't be the last time an incident like this occurs, and it's not fair on the users of the drivers affected (whether injured or penalised) to be hit so heavily when the outcome was completely unpredictable. By that I mean, the fact that the drivers are all identical in terms of ability means it's not like there's some hotheads or crazy drivers in the field that have been programmed that way. That incident could have had anyone involved, the fact it was Tanner Jason who has a history of crashes and incidents has just fueled the "inquisition" that has followed.

In my opinion, the game used should be changed for 2016, because this is only going to happen again, and more drivers are going to get 'injured' or banned, and that's not very fair.

Pointrox tried that back when this series was known as F1RLFS - and it was a disaster, Moda. I don't think Nuppiz have another game (apart from F1C) to simulate the races, either.

AndreaModa wrote:In my opinion, the game used should be changed for 2016, because this is only going to happen again, and more drivers are going to get 'injured' or banned, and that's not very fair.

Nuppiz wrote:

AndreaModa wrote:In my opinion, the game used should be changed for 2016, because this is only going to happen again, and more drivers are going to get 'injured' or banned, and that's not very fair.

Oh, I would happily change the game to, say, F1 Challenge 99-02 (which TBH is the only other modern racing simulation in my possession). LFS has a very limited selection of tracks, the AI lacks any sort of respect towards fellow competitors, there's a limit of max. 20 drivers per race and recording the highlights takes many, many hours. In comparison F1C has a huge selection of tracks, the AI is a bit better (although it sometimes makes rather erratic moves, as seen in the Life GP Series), there is no artificial limit on how many cars can take part in one race, each driver has his/her own skillset, and most importantly (to myself) the replay system is infinitely better so it only takes less than one third of the time it takes in LFS to record all highlights.

The only problem I see is that this would remove a lot from the uniqueness of the series, instead making it very similar with F2RWRS and F3RWRS (and to a lesser extent, F1RWRS and F1RDS).

the Masked Lapwing wrote:Well, if you can still simulate tyre, engine and chassis differences, it should still be good. And in my opinion, this would be a small price to pay for having the series visit tracks in common with the other series.

Ataxia [BacLettNinj] wrote:If you switch it to F1C, I can imagine that this would better serve as the FR3.5 in the series. Also, you don't HAVE to stick to the RWRS circuits; maybe support one or two but largely build up your own calendar. If you can find a FR3.5 or a GP2 2011 shape we'd have a variation in car shapes compared to F2 and F3RWRS.

Just my $0.02.

Phoenix McAllister wrote:I am speechless, but I shall overcome it and make an honest and straightforward statement.

Today is easily the worst day I've ever had in motor racing, alongside the day we lost Tom Walkinshaw. I can't believe one of my drivers is directly responsible for the death of a fellow competitor, a driver I've always supported and negotiated for him to be in F1RWRS next season. The fact he ignored yellow flags was unexcusable, and he should count himself lucky he wasn't injured in the crash. We'll not protest the decisions made by the board of excluding him from the championship and banning him from competing in the RoLFS series.

I want to present my dearest apologies to Nobushige Fukuda's family, friends and team. We'll also shoulder all the expenses derived from this regrettable episode.

Last, but by no means least, I want to make a call regarding the unacceptably poor driving standards of the competitors at the RoLFS series. While it was Jason and Tristan Jung who got involved in the mess, I have a feeling it could have been anyone. All of the drivers have acted like absolute lunatics at pretty much every race and this has to change. Otherwise, it is with great sadness that Aeroracing Engineering will withdraw from the RoLFS series indefinitely. Nobushige Fukuda's death cannot be in vain.

Tanner Jason wrote:That does it. It is with enormous pain that I retire from motosport. Forever. I can't believe what has just happened. I don't want to be near or in a racing car ever again. I'll use my qualification in Medicine to work as a doctor from now on. Perhaps even start a foundation named after Nobushige Fukuda to improve safety in motor sport. I think this is the way I want to live my life from now on. I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Fukuda's loved ones. May he rest in peace.

FMecha wrote:

Nuppiz wrote:Post-race investigation into Tristan Jung's collision with Nobushige Fukuda has revealed that not only were yellow flags out at the scene, but Jung also did not even attempt to avoid Fukuda.

Tristan Jung is hereby disqualified from the championship standings and banned from RoLFS competition until 2018.

TRE views that Jung responded too late to avoid Fukuda and will convince Tarantino Autosport to support our protest.

Tristan Jung wrote:What? There was no way I could avoid Fukuda's car without spinning off myself! Not to insult the late Mr. Fukuda, but circling around for two laps near the racing line is an equally unsafe maneuver. When I entered the corner, I had about a second to react to Fukuda's car going slowly on the racing line because on the last lap, I had assumed that he was still off-track. Tanner Jason had a good amount of time to react to Fukuda's flipped car. Tarantino Autosport will appeal the decision. In fact, after viewing the safety levels of this series, I was planning on officially retiring from the RoLFS to focus on the F1RICS anyway. Collin Pratchett will be replacing me for the remainder of the season.

Ural Racing principal wrote:the Ural Racing team is deeply shocked by what had happened, we offer deep and sincere condolences Nobushige Fukuda's family, friends and team,also believe that a similar tragedy will never happen again, but we hope that changes are made to improve the safety of drivers so that a similar tragedy never happened

Best regards and deep sympathy
Ural Racing principal,Gennady Kruchenko
and drivers, engineers, and other staff team

DalekSam wrote:Also re: moving to F1C, while I wholeheartedly support this, is there any templates (PSD, preferrably) for any mod you choose? I'm extremely anal about having the ability to have control over skinning things :S

SRMP wrote:SPYSHOT: Here's next year's RoLFS (or whatever it will be called) car:

Nuppiz wrote:

SRMP wrote:SPYSHOT: Here's next year's RoLFS (or whatever it will be called) car:

darkapprentice77 wrote:Formula Nippon, eh? I always liked the look of their cars.