Kjetil Lønhøiden's Fatal Crash @ Mantorp Park 1985 (Aftermath)

Norwegian drag racer Kjetil Lønhøiden suffered a fatal accident in an event at the Mantorp Park 1/4-mile dragstrip on Saturday, 27 July 1985. Lønhøiden was racing his Plymouth Barracuda Hemi when its throttle got stuck fully open. Lønhøiden's Plymouth rolled multiple times after reaching the gravel trap at the strip and his seat broke, making him fall backwards. The rules for the class in which he competed required fire extinguishers to be located near the driver's seat, but they became loose in the accident and hit Lønhøiden in the head. Injured, Kjetil Lønhøiden was transported to a nearby hospital before being taken back to his home in Norway, where he died on 04 August 1985 at age 30.

An investigation concluded that the accident was caused by an error in the installation of the throttle cable, which had not been properly drawn, and to a faulty return spring. Also, the engine shut-off switch was installing too far from the driver's seat, so Lønhøiden could not reach it when the safety belts were tightened. Furthermore, the lay-out of the gearbox assembly did not allow him to put the transmission in neutral before going sow through the gears one at the time. Some observers noted that a properly fixed seat may might not have been enough to save Lønhøiden's life, as the car was traveling at more than 230 km/h when it hit the ground after the first roll over the gravel trap at the end of the dragstrip.

While Swedish sources spell his surname as Lönhöiden the correct spelling in Norwegian is Lønhøiden.

R.I.P