BILL WARNER

[ronnieroadster]

IM proud to say I watched Bill Warner make his historic 311 MPH run. And earlier this morning I watched  Bill run 296 MPH in the mile. We knew he was one special man that give it his all. And we all knew he had balls of steel!  Bills place in history will be forever Gods Speed to a Great Man.

[blackslax]

We know little, we can tell less.
but one thing I do know, one thing I can tell you
is that I will see you again in Jerusalem
a place of such beauty you will be more at home
than with mother or father
or even lover or friend
and once we are within her walls
death will hunt us in vain.

Ann Porter

Rest in peace Bill

[Crosley]

RIP  Bill

[Flipper_1938]

My condolences to his family.

I never met the man, but I was impressed by what he did.

[WOODY@DDLLC]

Sad news! Reality is far too harsh sometimes! 

I just met Bill at Wilmington and was immediately impressed with his presence and demeanor!

He will be truly missed by all those he has encountered!

RIP!

[runt13]

I also met bill for the first time last week at Wilmington. and was impressed by his down to earth demeanor.

we were joking about leaving the windows down when it started pouring rain on us when we were in tech, and how much his truck smelled. all the time he had that big old smile on.

he was genuinely impressed with my speeds, as if my 140+mph runs could ever compare to his.

rest in peace Bill.

[Chris08Bus]

I met the man for the first time this weekend. I was immediately surprised at how humble he was. He was that type of guy that you'd love to go out to have a beer with. I had just done a run and was on the return road when he went down. I wish I had seen his final launch at the start.

Bill, you were a gift to us all for which we will be forever grateful. You will not be forgotten.

[Papi]

I just got home from El Mirage and was sent a text about this. Truly a sad day for us LSR bike guys.
Bill raised the bar so high, he impressed in all of us his amazing skill and talent to be the first Mr. 300 to sit on a bike.

Godspeed Bill. Thank you for showing us your awesome endeavor in LSR, being the first over 3, and being a fantastic racer and competitor. You will be sorely missed.

†

[stay`tee]

this is sad news indeed,, first meet Bill in 2009(?), when he was running the VMax at Bonneville ,, in the years since he was always happy too catch up, "a true gentleman", RIP mate, ,,

[MiltonP]

 
Bill was the last person I spoke with before leaving the track Friday after I was one and done.  He was working away trying to resolve his electrical goblin from his first pass so I didn't stay long but we had a great chat earlier about scuba diving and sea life.  I had a good laugh at someone who runs as fast as him thinking I was crazy for deep diving in my earlier days.

My fondest memory will be that conversation but I will never forget when he rolled in to impound after his 272 run in Maxton.  His first words after that eventful pass, IIRC, were 'All I want is a hug' to Donna.  I will forever be glad that I chose not to run that event and was able to witness that run.  I also will never forget how I got a laugh out of him last year in Loring when I told him after he missed sixth gear made me feel more human for doing the same on occasion.

Bill taught me how to be patient and sit out crosswinds if they made me uncomfortable.  He is my hero and role model and I will miss him.  My prayers go out to his immediate and land speed racing family.

[Gu11ett]

My condolences to his family.
You are in my prayers.
RIP Bill

[gkabbt]

This is a true loss to the Land Speed Racing community   
Even though I am a "car guy", I have always been in AWE of Motorcycle Land Speed Racers and Bill was the consummate racer.
I first met Bill several years ago at Maxton and have kinda followed his accomplishments through the years.
Hard not to follow with the speeds he consistently ran. I would have loved to have seen his 311 run!
I caught up with him at last year's Main event and he was a gracious as ever.....A true Gentleman in every sense of the word.

Dean, thanks for posting this pic in the other thread and showing his ever present smile!


Godspeed Bill Warner, you will be sorely missed.

Gregg Adams

[manifest]

RIP Mr. Warner.

I saw this on MSNBC this morning and then tortured myself by reading the comments.  Nice to be able to escape the ignorance and hear the positive, true stories and thoughts of people who knew and respected him on this forum.

Watching his 311 run on youtube still puts me in a good mood.

Thanks for your dedication to this sport Bill Warner.

[pasodude]

Rip mr. 311

[o1marc]

Bangor Daily News
by Mario Maoretto, staff writer
Posted July 14, 2013, at 3:12 p.m.  Last modified July 14, 2013, at 4:08 p.m.

CARIBOU, Maine — A Florida man who set the world record for fastest speed on a conventional motorcycle died Sunday from injuries suffered when he lost control of his motorcycle and reportedly slid 1,000 feet during a speed trial at the former Loring Air Force Base.
William “Bill” Warner, 44, a speed racer and tropical fish grower from Wimauma, Fla., was attempting to hit 300 mph within one mile just before 10 a.m. Sunday during The Maine Event, an annual speed trial race sanctioned by the Loring Timing Association.
Warner made it about 4,000 feet before suddenly losing control of his modified turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa. He was taken immediately to Cary Medical Center in Caribou, according to race officials. After the crash, race officials cancelled the remainder of Sunday’s races
Bill Flagg, a spokesman for the hospital, confirmed Sunday afternoon that Warner had died from his injuries at 11:15 a.m. The announcement was delayed until Warner’s family could be notified, Flagg said.
Limestone Volunteer Fire Department and Crown Ambulance were on-scene in case of accidents during the time trials. According to a spokesman for the fire department, an investigation into what caused the accident will be conducted by the Limestone Police Department.
Race officials interviewed immediately after the accident said Warner was “awake and talking” when he was brought to the Caribou hospital. Those officials — event director Mark Sotomayor and race director Tim Kelly — were unreachable for additional comment later in the day.
Though there are few known details, one witness who watched the race from the starting line said he could tell that things had gone wrong when he saw that Warner had veered off the track, to the right.
The Loring Timing Association instructs racers to veer off the track to the left if there is a vehicle problem and to veer to the right if they are injured or if their vehicle is on fire.
“He got maybe 4,000 feet or so, and where I was standing at the starting line, you could see a big dust cloud and then it got silent,” said Cole Theriault, a spectator from Connor Township. “The bike, from what I heard, was demolished, just in pieces. After a minute, all you could hear was the sirens.”
Warner set a world record at the time trial in 2011, when he became the first conventional motorcyclist in history to top 300 mph, according to the Loring Timing Association. On a 1.5-mile course, he maxed out at 311.945 mph. On Saturday, he broke the 1-mile record at Loring when he hit 296 mph.
In 2011, Warner spoke about the his record-breaking run.
“The big part of it, after the speed happens, is trying to stop the bike,” he said. “Here at Loring Air Force Base, there is a mile shutdown to slow the vehicles down and I used every bit of it. The bike was bouncing, hopping, skipping and sliding. Needless to say, I got it stopped safely. It was a little scary.”
According to the Loring Timing Association’s website, the track at Loring is the longest land speed record track in the world, with a total length of 2 ⅝ miles, including a long stretch for cool down.

++++++++++

I am mortified once again that my colleagues in the mainstream are guilty of shabby journalism. The media reports have, in only a few hours said Bill crashed first at 260, but now its up to 285MPH -- no verification, no attribution just a viral number that keeps on bloating. Sigh. I'll wait for the official report from Sotomayor, Kelly and the Limestone Police Department.

Perhaps you'll notice there are not hundreds of news briefs reporting that Donna Timney is recovering nicely at her home in Delaware after going down at 218MPH during he recent ECTA event in Ohio. As husband Joe reminded me, "We dress form the crash, not for the ride."  She'll be back. Bet me. If for no other reason than to admonish Keith Turk for shutting down the event because of her tumble.
--LandSpeed Louise

The press is nothing but sensationalism. I'm surprised to see a story on the ECTA site about Bill's passing yet nothing about Donna's incident. I heard she went off at 213 now the numbers have jumped to 218.
Thoughts and prayers to the Warner family.