Lawsuit of Ayrton Climo against Monaco: an expert evokes a pilot error
The accident that seriously injured American kart driver Ayrton Climo in 2014 was due to pilot error, hinted on Wednesday during the civil lawsuit brought by the family against the organizers of Monaco de Trois-Rivières.
This is at least what Jean Grandbois, an engineer specializing in vehicle dynamics and accident scene investigation, said during his testimony at the Trois-Rivières mechanical courthouse.
According to him, the speed would not be in question since the young driver, during his accident, was on loan more than the previous laps. Mr. Grandbois also rejects the thesis according to which a cement repair would have destabilized the kart since, the videos and telemetric data to which he had access, Ayrton Climo accelerated at the height of the repair and continued to accelerate afterwards.
Jean Grandbois maintains that if the repair had destabilized it, the kart would then have slowed down and the impact would have taken place in a straight line, which is not the case.
Depending on the circuit and the capabilities of the karts, including their resistance to lateral forces, the engineer was able to determine the fastest racing line. According to him, at the time of the impact, the young victim was outside this line.
For him, if the speed is not in question, nor the cement repair, the only possible option is pilot error.
However, the prosecution questioned the expertise of Mr. Grandbois, who had never before been an expert for karts, but rather for motor vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and motorcycles. Cross-examination will continue Thursday morning.
Remember that the Climo family sued the race organizers for $26 million. Following a loss of control in turn 4, the young Ayrton Climo had been ejected from his car, before being hit by other drivers, thus suffering serious injuries which left him with serious consequences.
The family tries to show in court that the security of the track was not adequate.