Ashley Cooper remains on life support.
Dick Johnson worries that young drivers lack experience.
Motor racing champion Dick Johnson has questioned whether young drivers have the experience to take on Adelaide's street circuit after four were injured in high-speed crashes over the Clipsal 500 weekend.
The man who has won just about everything in Australian motorsport warned that drivers had to be highly experienced to cope with the demanding course through central Adelaide.
Johnson spoke out as 27-year-old Ashley Cooper remained on life support following a smash at around 200km/h on Saturday.
Another three drivers, all in their 20s, were injured in a pile-up of V8 utes yesterday before the final leg of the feature V8 Supercars event. One of them, Matt Kingsley, 23, was admitted to the intensive care unit of Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The accidents marred the 10th running of the annual Adelaide race carnival, which attracted record crowds. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, car racing's governing body, has launched an investigation into the crashes.
Johnson, the three-time Bathurst 1000 winner who manages a V8 Supercars team with his son Steve as a driver, said motor racing was dangerous at the best of times. But driver experience was at a premium on the tight Adelaide street circuit.
“It may be that they (CAMS) have to take a good look at the experience of the drivers,” Johnson said.
“It's a very difficult course and ... must be treated with the greatest of respect.”
Doctors were forced to perform a trackside tracheotomy on Cooper after he was pulled from the wreckage of the VZ Commodore he had purchased to compete under his own banner in the Fujitsu series, a V8 Supercars support category.
The father of two from the NSW south coast town of Ulladulla suffered severe head trauma, brain swelling and internal injuries. His wife, Casey, was at his bedside yesterday as Supercars chaplain Garry Coleman led the big race crowd in praying for his recovery.
The injured V8 ute drivers were rushed to hospital after their race, a warm-up to the Clipsal 500 finale, produced more high drama yesterday.
Jamie Whincup won the main event after Ford rivals Craig Lowndes and James Courtney took each other out of the race.
CAMS chief executive Graham Fountain said the track layout in Adelaide and “driver issues” would be covered by the investigation into the accidents.
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