Spectator Killed in Nurburgring Horror Crash
“Motorsport is dangerous” the back of every event ticket reads. A spectator sport where drivers race around at hundreds of miles per hour in homologated machines inherently has plenty of risk. Whilst the governing bodies of various events have worked hard to minimise the danger, there will always be some. A tragedy has unfolded at the Nurburgring today as a racing car flipped into the air and landed on spectators. A sad day indeed…
The VLN Endurance Championships plays host to a wide range of entrants from Porsche 911’s, Audi R8 and McLaren 12C. Each car has been developed at the very edge of what is physically possible in order to be at its most competitive. Today a Nissan GT-R driven Brit by Jann Mardenborough, who won GT Academy in 2011, flipped up and into the air whilst navigating Flugplatz section of the Nurburgring. It landed upside-down on the other side of the protective fencing injuring many and killing one. The driver is currently in hospital undergoing checks.
At this moment in time it is not yet known what caused the accident, but it is eerily similar to what Mark Webber experience in his Mercedes-Benz. The bottom of these cars are flat for aerodynamic reasons and if enough air gets underneath the car at speed, it could cause such an accident.
Our thoughts are with the families of those involved.