R.I.P. Jessi

[strad]

I felt really bad when I heard this as I have followed her career for a long time.
She was as tough as any man, fighting back from a few back injuries and accidents.

Fabricator, racer, and automotive-industry personality Jessi Combs was killed Tuesday afternoon while attempting a land-speed record in the Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon. She was driving the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger, a repurposed F-104 fighter jet with 52,000 hp. Jessi has piloted the car to past records, including the women’s four-wheeled speed record in 2013, where she ran 393 mph. Back in 2016, she would beat the record again, running 440 mph and cementing her title as the “Fastest Woman on Four Wheels”; then in 2018 she hit a whopping 483.227 mph during a shakedown run of the car.

[izzy]

I felt really bad when I heard this as I have followed her career for a long time.
She was as tough as any man, fighting back from a few back injuries and accidents.

Fabricator, racer, and automotive-industry personality Jessi Combs was killed Tuesday afternoon while attempting a land-speed record in the Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon. She was driving the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger, a repurposed F-104 fighter jet with 52,000 hp. Jessi has piloted the car to past records, including the women’s four-wheeled speed record in 2013, where she ran 393 mph. Back in 2016, she would beat the record again, running 440 mph and cementing her title as the “Fastest Woman on Four Wheels”; then in 2018 she hit a whopping 483.227 mph during a shakedown run of the car.

It's a sad story, what a shame, remarkable person. 483 mph!

[Radley]

RIP Jessie- You will be missed.

[hollus]

If anyone wants to discuss sexism and motorsport, open your own thread, but don’t do it in this one.
No, we will not analyze every word under the microscope.

[garygph]

R.I.P Jessi. You lived life ...respect.

[humble sabot]

I hadn't realised she was involved with the project until I heard the worst news possible.

I guess there's a pretty good chance they won't rebuild it at this point. Having a driver die is probably bad juju for making subsequent record attempts with the same chassis.

KoH winner and LSR jet car driver? Talk about role models!

[Just_a_fan]

I agree with the deleted post about her toughness. One thing she wouldn't want is to be compared to men in terms of toughness. No one does these things in order to be compared to the average. She was looking to be judged on her own merits. To judge her against men is to denigrate her legacy.

[coaster]

Heaps of people warned her not to do it, they cited that the car lacked safety features, a hacked up jet with to many design compromises.