Toyota chief test driver dies in crash near Ring

unkel

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According to reports, Toyota's chief test driver, 67-year-old Hiromu Naruse, has died in a crash on highway 410 near the famed Nürburgring race track in Germany. He was driving the recently spied Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition (above) at the time of the accident, and reports say he veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with two others test drivers in a BMW. The two BMW test drivers survived the crash, though one is reportedly still in critical condition. German video of the crash scene after the accident took place can be viewed below. Police are investigating the crash and have yet to determine its cause.

Naruse was heavily involved with the development of the Lexus LFA supercar he was driving, along with many other past sports cars from Toyota's history since he joined the company in 1963. Enthusiasts today call him the "Godfather of the LFA," though he was involved in the development of sports cars for Toyota going as far back as the storied 2000GT from the late 1960s. The prototype of a special edition version of the LFA that he was driving when the accident occurred was reportedly worth 1.5 million euro.

knifey_spoonie

Wait for it, Wait............

Muckie

Thats very sad.

JJJJNR

RIP.

KamiKazi

RIP.

American press are going to have a field day with this one.

mullingar

unkel wrote: »

reports say he veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with two others test drivers in a BMW.

From looking at the video I would agree.

Possible causes are either:
- Mechanical problems with brakes/steering
- Cut corner at very high speed into path of BMW and did not have reaction speed (he was 67 RIP) to match the high speed he was travelling on a public road.

Major loss to the industry.

unkel

mullingar wrote: »

Possible causes are either:
- Mechanical problems with brakes/steering
- Cut corner at very high speed

I can't imagine it was speeding. The crash was on a public road, not on the Ring and it would be extremely unprofessional for a test driver to exceed the speed limit or drive dangerously on a public road.

Not too much point speculating though, who knows, he might have had a heart attack / stroke. We'll need to wait for the investigation results...

fricatus

When I read the thread title I honestly thought that he had crashed near the Co Waterford Gaeltacht! :rolleyes:

In any event, RIP... sad loss.

peasant

Looking at both cars, they seem to be to be more damaged on the right than the left and both seem to be postioned further to the left than to the right of the road (in their respecitve direction of travel).

Neither ties up with two cars colliding while driving on the right hand side of the road. Looks to me like both drivers were cutting the corner rather sportily

-Corkie-

Rip.

The moral of the story is your safer in a bmw than a lexus..

fonecrusher1

KamiKazi wrote: »

RIP.

American press are going to have a field day with this one.

Couldn't give a fcuk what they think TBH.

Shocking stuff. RIP.

Max_Damage

Shit happens.

corglass

sad news. by all accounts the guy knew his stuff. RIP

unkel

Like I said, we're only speculating here, maybe we should not even go here

But that said, this pic leaves little doubt or so it seems:



Looks like the Toyota was driving on the left side of the road* just before the crash and the crash wedging it left into the barrier and forcing the rear of the BMW to its left

*racing line, wrong side of the road as we drive over here and he drove over in his home country, heart attack, etc....

Ali Babba

It doesn't look like a particularly bad accident, i'd say he got a heart attack/stroke or something. At least he got taken away in a Merc.:)

unkel

It was initially reported that Hiromu Naruse in the Lexus and both occupants of the BMW were wearing safety helmets. Now BMW claim that neither BMW occupant was wearing a safety helmet. Wearing a safety helmet on a public road in Germany is illegal. That seems a bit of a dodgy statement from BMW, as the intitial claims were probably direct witness reports from the emergency services staff who probably don't know any of this stuff. The emergency services staff even called the Lexus a "Nissan Lexus" - you don't need to understand German to get this - watch the clip! BMW also claims their car was not speeding.

Article

This thread is not finished yet...

Guy:Incognito

Is it a standard public road with traffic? What are the chances of hitting another test driver in these circumstances?

Plug

They were playing chicken and the Germans won.

GavRedKing

As being said above,hat are the chances that two cars carrying tet drivers crash in a public road??

Id imagine the chances are very high, sme of this stroy just isnt adding up at the moment.

RIP though.