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Car fans cruise for Paul Walker

SANTA CLARITA, California - The sound of high-performance car engines filled the air on Sunday (Dec 8) as thousands of fans, friends and car enthusiasts headed to the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita to honour Paul Walker at the site where the ‘Fast & Furious’ actor died in a car crash on November 30.

The memorial, planned through social media, was scheduled to begin at noon but mourners began arriving hours before to leave flowers, candles, stuffed animals and other tributes.

PAUL WALKER MEMORIAL GALLERY

By afternoon about 5 000 people, among them families with children, dropped by, according to a sheriff's office spokesperson.

Many arrived in cars built for speed and the sounds of engines revving echoed close to where Walker and his friend died on November 30 2013. The event ended on Sunday evening with a cruise through the area 50km north-west of central Los Angeles.

Walker, 40, died when the Porsche Carrera GT in which he was a passenger smashed into a light pole and tree and burned. The actor's friend and financial adviser, Roger Rodas, who was driving, also died.

The two had bonded over a shared passion for fast cars. They co-owned an auto racing team named after Rodas' custom car shop, Always Evolving, and Rodas (38) drove professionally for the team on the Pirelli World Challenge circuit through 2013.

On Sunday Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies directed often-heavy traffic as mourners passed by the crash site on foot and in cars. Many of the early arrivals parked in a nearby church car park where they milled around, bundled up in the chilly morning air.

Among those who turned out was Edi Maya, a gardener who worked in Walker's neighbourhood and said he chatted with the actor from time to time.

'CELEBRATE HIS LIFE'

Maya told KABC-TV: "I work next to his house every week, twice a week. Seeing those candles there, it's heartbreaking.”

Actor Rick Yune, who co-starred with Walker in ‘The Fast and the Furious’, said: "We mourn his loss but we can at least remember how great a guy he was and celebrate his life."

Walker was in Santa Clarita for a fund-raiser for his charity, Reach Out Worldwide, organised for victims of the then recent Philippines typhoon. The event took place at Rodas' shop and the two stepped away for what was supposed to be a short drive in Rodas' car.

The limited-edition Porsche was previously owned by IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, who had said it could be difficult to drive.

Walker, the star of five of the six ‘Fast and Furious’ movies, was the face of the franchise. He was making the seventh film in the series when he died.

Universal Pictures has shut down production while it contemplates how it might go forward without him.
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