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[VIDEO] Sophia Florsch: Formula 3 driver fractures spine in Macau Grand Prix crash

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MenInG

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Formula 3 driver Sophia Florsch has fractured her spine in a high-speed crash at the Macau Grand Prix in China.

The 17-year-old German's car lost control going into a bend before flying through the air and crashing backwards into fences.

A statement from her team, Van Amersfoort Racing, said Florsch was conscious and in a stable condition.

"I am fine but will be going into surgery tomorow morning," Florsch posted on social media on Sunday.

"Thanks to everybody for the supporting messages. Update soon."

Japanese driver Sho Tsuboi, who Florsch first crashed into, has been taken to hospital with back pain.

Two photographers and a marshal are also in hospital, according to the race organisers.

Photographer Minami Hiroyuki has concussion, while marshal Chan Cha In suffered a fractured facial bone and lacerations.

The other photographer, Chan Weng Wang, has a liver laceration.

The race was immediately red-flagged before restarting an hour later.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/46253184
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Terrifying!<br><br>A crash in the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix has to be seen to be believed. Early reports suggest everyone involved survived. <a href="https://t.co/jc4TXOdNn0">pic.twitter.com/jc4TXOdNn0</a></p>— Herald Sun Sport (@heraldsunsport) <a href="https://twitter.com/heraldsunsport/status/1064089412349452288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Sophia-Florsch-CRASH-Second-angle-Formula-3-1046926.jpg
 
I wonder what went wrong. Seems like her car didnt slow down at all when approaching the bend. Has to be a mechanical issue with the breaks.
 
Formula 3 driver Sophia Florsch had an "angel on her shoulder" to survive her high-speed crash at the Macau Grand Prix, says her team principal.

German Florsch, 17, fractured her spine after losing control of her car, which flew through the air before smashing into a fence and photographers' bunker.

"It was nearly a rocket. Surviving was incredible," said Frits van Amersfoort, the owner of Van Amersfoort Racing.

"We reckon she was travelling at 276km/h (171.6mph) at the time."

Florsch posted on social media on Sunday to say she will have surgery on her broken vertebrae on Monday.

She hit the back of Jehan Daruvala's car on lap four and then launched over the inside kerb into the car of Sho Tsuboi. That impact catapulted her car over the barrier and into an area occupied by marshals and photographers.

Van Amersfoot described the 20 minutes that followed as "one of the worst of my life".

"We got some information from social media while we were waiting at the door of race control, but when you look at those images it is heartbreaking so we were thinking of the worst," the Dutchman told BBC Radio 5 live.

"It took quite a long time before the race control could say anything about the health of Sophia - everyone can imagine that's not a nice thing to have.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. I haven't seen all accidents in motorsport but this was surely one of the worst I've ever seen.

"We were lucky that she was flying because she went over a barrier. If she had hit the barrier it would have gone a lot worse."

Jean Todt, the president of motorsport's governing body the FIA, has said Sunday's crash - which came a year after British motorcyclist Daniel Hegarty became the eighth rider to be killed on the circuit since 1973 - will be investigated.

"The FIA is mobilised to help those involved and analyse what happened," he posted on social media. "We will monitor the situation and make the necessary conclusions."

Japanese driver Tsuboi was taken to hospital with back pain, while race organisers said two photographers and a marshal were also taken to hospital.

Photographer Minami Hiroyuki was taken in with concussion, while marshal Chan Cha In suffered a fractured facial bone and lacerations. The other photographer, Chan Weng Wang, had a liver laceration.

The race in China was immediately red-flagged before restarting an hour later.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/46258361
 
Dangerous sport! that was like a missile hitting the wall! She is lucky to be alive
 
Damn only 17. Takes a lot of guts to work at something so daring so young and good on her parents for backing her passion.
 
KingKhanWC said:
I wonder what went wrong. Seems like her car didnt slow down at all when approaching the bend. Has to be a mechanical issue with the breaks.
Click to expand...

Anyone remember an incident with Mark Webber in 2010, when he hit the back of Kovalienen and flew up. That was scary too.

I think Weber wasn't aware how far back Kovalinen's breaking point was (IIRC Kovalienen was racing for one of the lower ranked teams - lotus or something - the one for the Air Asia owner).

Something similar could have happened here.
 
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