Young motorcycle racer dies at Indianapolis

[Dave Gundry]

Just found out about this from my brother who was there...

Peter crashed on the warm up lap, sat up and waved his arms, but the field was too close to avoid him. Another racer, Xavier Zayat (12) hit him. Peter died a few hours later at the hospital. Not sure what to even say. Peter died doing what he loved, hopefully Xavier can work his way through the immense pain he must be in. My heart goes out to both families and to Xavier.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/08/30/peter-lenz-crash-teen-motorcycle-racer-dies-in-accident/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Lenz/70479071698

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Xavier-Zayat/114857711857911

[sigsauerfan]

Just found out about this from my brother who was there...

Peter crashed on the warm up lap, sat up and waved his arms, but the field was too close to avoid him. Another racer, Xavier Zayat (12) hit him. Peter died a few hours later at the hospital. Not sure what to even say. Peter died doing what he loved, hopefully Xavier can work his way through the immense pain he must be in. My heart goes out to both families and to Xavier.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/08/30/peter-lenz-crash-teen-motorcycle-racer-dies-in-accident/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Lenz/70479071698

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Xavier-Zayat/114857711857911

sad day realy.

crashing in the early stages of a race is life treatening specialy when landing on the track.

superbikes and GP's racers knows what they have to deal with,he was doing his thing, did what he was burning for.

may he rest in peace.

Edited August 31, 2010 by sigsauerfan

[Bigpops]

I took a Kieth Code class a couple years ago. Peter was working very closely with Kieth and we heard great things about that young man. It is a shame. I pray for both boys.

[Fullauto_Shooter]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

[JThompson]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

It is yes, and they race karts that are blazing fast too. It's dangerous, but so is running around with guns.....

JT

[Bigpops]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

Yes it is. My sons and I raced Motocross and most kids start around age 5-6. No different than football, soccer, etc.

Peter started at age 5. He was a true talent, touted as the NEXT BIG THING! Do a YouTube search on him and witness his ability. This young man knew what he was doing and was having a ball doing it.

[Fullauto_Shooter]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

Yes it is. My sons and I raced Motocross and most kids start around age 5-6. No different than football, soccer, etc.

Peter started at age 5. He was a true talent, touted as the NEXT BIG THING! Do a YouTube search on him and witness his ability. This young man knew what he was doing and was having a ball doing it.

Thanks for the info - never been in the motorsports scene so I had no frame of reference. Hope the young guy who hit him is able to work through his issues and get on with his life. What a shame.

[sigsauerfan]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

yes it is ok considering a tight mentoring, it's completly kosher.

on top of that, every racer experienced a crash one day or another, so they get a taste for what they're in.

Edited August 31, 2010 by sigsauerfan

[MarkCO]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

Yep, we had a 9 year old girl die Karting here in Grand Junction a few weeks ago. I was hitting race speeds of over 150 mph by 15.

[JThompson]

Terrible tragedy, but how is that a 12 year old can race motorcycles when he's too young to even have a drivers license? For those in the racing scene, is this normal?

Yep, we had a 9 year old girl die Karting here in Grand Junction a few weeks ago. I was hitting race speeds of over 150 mph by 15.

Ya, I heard about that one too. Just type in Kart and kills and you will get pages of it. I raced them for a bit, but got dumped by an idiot and went tumbling down the road and decided I wanted something with a roll cage.

JT

[gohuskers]

Very sad. In motorcycle road racing this seems to happen more than other sports - at least it seems so. I took a Keith Code course as well to get my road racing license and still remember the names of several racers killed or grieviously injured, the most notable being Wayne Rainey who is now in a wheel chair, or Larry Schwartzbach who tragically lost his life. Very sad indeed.