Ashley Alan Cooper (11 July 1980 – 25 February 2008) was an Australian race car driver. Cooper died from severe head and internal injuries after a high-speed racing accident.
The Age. Retrieved on 2008-02-26 Preliminary investigation suggests that his car may have hit the concrete barrier at over at the

Clipsal 500 The Adelaide 500 (also known as the VALO Adelaide 500 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 to 2020 and again from 2022. It is sometim ...

meeting in Adelaide.

Career

Cooper began his racing career in 1998 driving

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

HQ sedans. Leading the 2005 Commodore Cup championship for most of the year, Cooper finished fourth at the final round at

Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sy ...

. In 2006, Cooper was crowned

V8 Utes The V8 Ute Racing Series, known originally as the V8 BRute Utes was an Australian motor racing series for Coupé utility, utilities, derived from the Australian Production Car Championship. It was conceived in 2000 by Procar Australia, PROCAR chief ...

Rookie of the Year. He competed in three rounds of the 2007 Fujitsu

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

Series, with a top 15 finish at

Queensland Raceway Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located at Willowbank in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The circuit did host Supercars Championship until 2019, drifting as well as club level racing and ride days. Qu ...

Death

Cooper suffered severe head and internal injuries after crashing his

Holden VZ Commodore The Holden Commodore (VZ) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 2004 to 2006 as a sedan and to 2007 as a wagon and Coupé utility, Ute sold alongside the new Holden Commodore (VE), VE series. It was the fourth and final iteration ...

into a concrete barrier at over during the

Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian touring car racing competition, specifical ...

race at the

in Adelaide on 23 February 2008. Cooper had been given emergency medical treatment trackside from medical teams, including Dr

Bill Griggs William Middleton Griggs, is a retired Australian physician specialising in trauma. In 2006 Griggs became a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to medicine, particularly through trauma, emergency and care management and education, a ...

, who performed a

tracheotomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The ...

to assist with Cooper's breathing. Cooper was taken to the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

by ambulance and was put on life support. He died two days later, at the age of 27. A registered

organ donor Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

, Cooper's heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and liver have been donated to seven people, including a six-year-old child.

References

External links

Ashley Cooper Motorsport website
1980 births 2008 deaths Racing drivers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales Supercars Championship drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Australia Accidental deaths in South Australia Organ transplant donors Filmed deaths in motorsport {{Australia-autoracing-bio-stub