Cooper dies after support event crash

Cooper, from Ulladulla, New South Wales, was competing in the second V8 Supercar Development Series race when he appeared to clip the inside of the turn eight sweeper before sliding sideways into the wall on the exit, hitting the wall at over 200 km/h, before spinning to the inside of the circuit.

He was removed from the car and taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with critical injuries, including severe head trauma, swelling of the brain and internal injuries. However, he succumbed to his injuries in hospital today.

Australia's motorsport governing body CAMS issued a statement about Cooper's passing, with CAMS President Colin Osborne commenting that Cooper's passing was something that would be felt by the entire Australian motorsport community.

"Firstly our thoughts and sympathies go to Ashley's family and friends, particularly his wife Casey and two children and parents Alan and Maree," said Osborne.

"It is always a very sad day when any member of the motor sport community is taken from us. The motor racing community involves a close knit group of competitors and officials and I know that everyone will be feeling the loss of Ashley.

"CAMS will conduct its own full independent investigation to determine the circumstances leading to the incident. In the mean time, CAMS and event officials are working with the relevant civil authorities to assist with their investigations."

It is the second fatality as the result of a crash in the V8 Supercar's support series in the last two years. In October 2006, New Zealand driver Mark Porter died following injuries he sustained in a multi-car crash at Mount Panorama Bathurst.

The turn the accident occurred at was reprofiled in 2002 into its current fast sweeper configuration after drivers complained that the original configuration, which included several large kerbs and was tighter and slower, was too dangerous.

Cooper's crash was not the only major crash during the weekend's racing. The most serious of them was during the final V8 Utes race, when there was a multi-car collision exiting the Senna Chicane, with Holden driver Matt Kingsley the most seriously injured, currently in intensive care with a suspected spinal injury.

There was also a rollover in the Formula Three race when Samantha Reid spun at the hairpin under brakes, and Chris Reindler flipped after tripping over her rear wheel, not forgetting the three-car collision between the front-running Fords in the second race of the Clipsal 500 event itself.