Motocross racer Kurt Caselli killed by booby trap on course

1742 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by darren, Nov 20, 2013

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Discussion Starter · Nov 16, 2013

Well, this is awful.

Racer Kurt Caselli Killed By Booby Trap At The Baja 1000

KTM factory motorcycle racer Kurt Caselli was killed last night as he was racing this year's running of the Baja 1000. It's not immediately clear what happened, but early reports are that he was killed when he hit some sort of man-made booby trap set by locals along the course.P

Caselli, 30, was near the end of the race when he hit the obstacle around 5 PM PST yesterday. He was transported to the hospital with major head injuries, according to Dirt Bike Magazine, but unfortunately succumbed to them during the night.P

Details are still emerging, but booby traps are not uncommon to the Baja. Locals dig holes or build ramps or build obstacles not always with the intent to injure, but sometimes with the intent to create an opportunity for entertainment. They're often haphazardly built, and with a complete disregard for safety. P

Caselli wasn't just your average racer, either. He was a three-time Hare & Hounds champion, a competitor at Dakar, a winner of the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina, and was running near to or at the lead throughout the Baja.

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stuh84

· #2 · Nov 16, 2013

Fucking Christ, the human race astounds me with its stupidity

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 16, 2013

This is a typical "trap" that the locals create on the circuit. WTF?

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Boots-Paul

· #5 · Nov 16, 2013

I'm a former MX racer and this saddens me people are fucked in the head.

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As much as I love motorcycles and love desert racing I'd never run the baja 1000 on a motorcycle. It's just too dangerous with people pulling this kind of shit. I knew they would bury logs and shit but I've never heard of anyone dying because of it until now.

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105

· #7 · Nov 16, 2013

Chris said:
This is a typical "trap" that the locals create on the circuit. WTF

:noplease: Let's see if we can kill someone for fun. JFC.

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Boots-Paul

· #8 · Nov 16, 2013

Chris said:
This is a typical "trap" that the locals create on the circuit. WTF?

baja 250 12 crash - YouTube

This is terrible for the racers but it just amazes me how stupid people with camera's are, I wonder how many die a year trying to get there once in a life time shoot.

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Discussion Starter · #9 · Nov 16, 2013

Baja 1000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Each year there are reports of spectators sabotaging or booby-trapping the course by digging holes, blocking river flow, or burying and hiding obstacles. Racers are warned to beware of large crowds of spectators in remote parts of the course since it may indicate hidden traps or obstacle changes. Many of the booby traps are not created to intentionally injure the contestants but are created by the local spectators as jumps or obstacles for spectator entertainment and intriguing moments to be caught on videotape. The haphazardly-designed jumps, created by the spectators, are very dangerous as the contestants may inadvertently enter the booby-trap at unsafe speeds, resulting in damage to the vehicles or injuries to competitors or spectators. Awareness of booby traps and course alterations are often part of race-day strategy and convey an advantage to the best prepared teams - nonetheless given the danger the traps pose, it is customary for competitors to quickly communicate course hazards to other competitors through on-board radio communications and radio relay. On November 15, 2013, American KTM factory off-road racer Kurt Caselli died as he was nearing the finish of the 833-mile contest when he crashed at approximately 4:55 pm PST. Reports on Twitter have indicated that it was due to a booby trap set-up by locals in an effort to disable competitors.

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