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https://youtu.be/93UOfkh0zgk
RIP Kurt Caselli....
I bet he and Danny Hamel go riding every day now...!
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I was hoping he passed much faster than that. Damn.
(I read this info on advrider.com and then confirmed it with a couple people who were down there.)
This was taken shortly before his crash...looks like he had a GoPro on.
I was hoping it was over right when he hit the ground.
Tragically, "Only the good die young" is all too true sometimes.
So sad for Kurt's friends and family.
My thoughts and prayers are with them.
The Good do die young.....
Almost a year ago (Dec 2012) i was visiting home for the holidays right before Christmas, it had just rained for 2-3 days and my buddy Brett and i were itching to go riding. He's good friends with Kurt and he hit him up and so before i knew it we were off to go riding in the hills above Kurt's house (same spot as the video that was posted earlier). I had met Kurt casually a few times over the years and I'm sure he didn't remember me (although he acted like he did) and we had breakfast and coffee at his house before suiting up and BS'ing in his garage. He had just got the word from KTM that week that he would be a fill-in for Coma on the factory Dakar Rally team in a few weeks and he was really pumped about it. In a reflection of his generosity that many others had mentioned - he had a freshly built KTM 350 sitting in his garage with all the blinged out goodies you could imagine. He said he was going to surprise his mechanic with that bike as a "thank you" for them having such a great year. He bought the bike off KTM with his own money and mentioned how his mechanic hadn't had a bike for sometime and he just wanted him to be able to ride again. He seemed like the type of guy that cared about other people's happiness more than his own.
As we went on with the ride i was clearly the back marker (my buddy Brett is pro-level off-roader) but Kurt had no problems helping me with lines up some nasty hills, or stopping to wait for me as he and Brett easily pulled away from me, haha. At the end of the ride Kurt showed us a track he carved in this huge valley, up and down the hills. Lap times were prob 4 min or so and the track was a blast! I have some cool photos from that day and I thought i would share.
Shock still has not worn off.
"These are the facts of what happened at RM 792.
(per Skyler Howes and Ivan Ramirez)
KTM had just pitted Kurt at RM 779. 13 miles later is where Kurt had crashed. The first person on scene was a spectator named "Turtle". Kurt was still breathing at this time. After many minutes, Turtle left to go get help. He did not want to leave but had no choice. This was in a very remote area with sand washes, ravines and trees and hardly any spectators. In the meantime, KTM was re-fueling their helicopter. When they got back in the air, they could not find Kurt - nor could the Honda helicopter. Chris was now getting calls from KTM and SCORE, everyone was looking for Kurt. Kim was working the radios for SCORE and this had now become a Code Red. She was helping us as much as she could. They were all frantically searching. Nobody could find him. We tracked him and told as many as we could what race mile he was at approximately (with Spot trackers, it's not exactly accurate and updates only every 10 or so minutes).
Ivan rode in to find him and he and Ricky Brabec got to Kurt almost at the same time (maybe one right before the other). Ricky on the 4x bike. This was quite a bit of time after Kurt had crashed. Then they started pushing the SOS button on the bike and got the info to KTM and SCORE. Kurt was not breathing at this point. The ambulance arrived at Kurt and now it's night time. They tried to revive him but Kurt had already passed.
After inspection of Kurt's bike, it has been confirmed that he hit a large animal at full speed - either a cow or horse.
Keep praying for Nancy, Caroline and Sarah for many days to come!
Kurt, may the heavens be filled with sweet trails & endless perfect conditions! You have left your mark in the most decent way a human can - with generosity, kindness, and more than an athlete could ever give to a sport! You gave it your heart and your soul. WE LOVE YOU!!!! ♥"
Pit Row
Kurt Caselli was a hell of a man.
Also, thanks Ridge for posting that, it's easier to find some peace in all this knowing the real facts.
I think he got DQ'd from the race in doing so, but that's the kind of guy he was.
I didn't know him...my loss.
But Kurt wasn't cocky...he sat and we talked over a week and I was surprised at how nice of a guy he was.
Then I would see him around the races from time to time...on several occasions he stopped, came by my pits and addressed me by my name and that's when I realized Kurt Caselli was as genuine a guy as they come. He wasn't just a front...that man really cared about people...didn't matter if you were Ricky Carmichael or Joe Schmoe.
God Speed!
THOR MX tribute to Kurt Caselli, doing what he loved, riding on.
I think we all got a bit of peace of mind when the reports came out that it likely wasn't a man-made booby trap, but now I'm hearing word that he was alone for almost 90 minutes before anyone came to his aid. Who knows how long he was in anguish or suffering out there in the desert before he lost consciousness/passed on. I hate to put that image in anyone's mind, so I apologize, but it's that kind of stuff that makes these things all the more tragic and hard to swallow...
-Bruce McLaren, From the Cockpit, 1964
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