Toyota test driver dead near the Nurburgring

Sorry if this is a repost, but I figured this deserves some attention here.

You've probably seen the car blog-o-sphere talking about the death of Hiromu Naruse, Toyota's top test driver. He was test driving the Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition just outside the 'Ring when he collided with a BMW. The full story is here:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/23/breaking-toyota-chief-test-driver-dies-lf-a-germany-ring/

Turns out the guy was behind some of Toyota's greatest cars, many of them GRM favorites:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/23/seat-time-with-hiromu-naruse/

TFA said: In addition to the racecars and the iconic 2000GT, Naruse-san had a hand in every revolutionary product to come out of Toyota. You name it, he was working on it. The 1965 Sports 800. His. The 1600GT. Another one. Every iteration of the Celica. The AE86. The first and third generation MR2s. The Supra. The Altezza [1st gen. Lexus IS]. And yes, even the second-generation Prius.

RIP, Naruse-san.

Wow.

Oversized floormat?

I will bet they find he died BEFORE the accident, while the impact looks bad it dos not look "deadly" compared to accidents Wally has been in.

It would explain a lot as well.

Seems a bit elderly to be testing something so wicked fast. I am sure he was a master behind the wheel, but human reflexes generally slow with age. Regardless, sad story.

his reactions were probably better than most people's.

Rest in piece

John Brown wrote: I will bet they find he died BEFORE the accident, while the impact looks bad it dos not look "deadly" compared to accidents Wally has been in. It would explain a lot as well.

I've heard he crossed the center line and nailed the BMW head on. I suspect you're probably right.

mad_machine wrote: Rest in piece

Yikes.

He is too ocupied with his job prospects to worry about a little spelling.

oops... as if my spelling was not suspect enough. Often times my brain works so much faster than my fingers (and I am a fast typer) that whole words go missing.

I do mean, "rest in peace"

Some things you do not joke about

Next time be a little more sensitive please

BMW says their car not speeding:

Cliffs Notes: Our car not speeding, our drivers not wearing helmets, as earlier reported, and our drivers have been released from the hospital.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/bmw-says-its-driver-in-lexus-lfa-crash-was-not-speeding/