Red Bull Junior Team driver Dan Ticktum won the Macau Grand Prix for the second year in a row in a race which was disrupted by a serious crash.
The race was suspended after Sophia Floersch was involved in a horrific crash at the Lisboa bend on lap four. Her car was launched through a crash barrier at high speed.The FIA issued the following statement regarding the crash:
“A serious incident has occurred on lap 4 of the 2018 FIA F3 World Cup at Macau involving car #25 Sophia Floersch (GER).
“Following evaluation by medical staff, the driver is conscious and has subsequently been taken to hospital for further evaluation.”
Once the race was restarted Ticktum simply drove away from his rivals. Joel Eriksson led the pursuers after passing Sacha Fenestraz when the race resumed.
The Safety Car returned to the track in the closing stages of the race after Hitech driver Enaam Ahmed hit the barrier. Ticktum produced another clean restart to see off Eriksson.
The Motopark pair were followed home by Carlin’s Fenestraz and Jake Hughes for Hitech. European Formula Three champion Mick Schumacher was the first of the Prema drivers home in fifth place ahead of team mate Ralf Aron. Juri Vips, Callumm Ilott, Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwarzman completed the top 10.
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Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th November 2018, 9:39
Where on earth did she get all that speed from? Had the throttle stuck wide open or something?
Best wishes and hopes to all involved :(
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 9:54
I think she lost the front wheels.
The word seems to be Sophia is okay (Ticktum said so before the restart) but that two photographers are in critical condition, although I don’t know the truth of the matter tbh
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 10:01
Ericsson not Ticktum even
Hugh (@hugh11)
18th November 2018, 10:50
Van Amersfoort Racing released a statement looks like a spinal fracture for Floersch, but she’s conscious and stable at least, and there were 2 photographers and a marshal who have been transferred to hospital as well as the other driver in the crash.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 12:12
Spinal injuries are never what we want to hear but I’m glad it wasn’t fatal. The inside corner replay does not make for easy viewing.
Sophia posted the following on Twitter:
Fingers crossed for good news about the others involved
Thomas Bennett (@felipemassadobrasil)
18th November 2018, 12:55
Especially with Wickens’s spinal injury still so fresh in the memory
anon
18th November 2018, 11:19
@nullapax, there seems to be a bit of confusion about what exactly happened, as the video footage that has emerged only showed the end of the accident.
There are some reports suggesting that there was a collision between Floersch and another driver further up the straight, which some have suggested damaged her car. What exactly happened is a bit confusing though – some have suggested that she’d lost both her front wheels, though the photo of the collision seems to show the front right being attached, if damaged – though whether that damage occurred before striking Tsuboi’s car or afterwards is not clear.
One possibility is that, if her front suspension was broken, she might have been left skidding along on the floor of the car – that might explain why she wasn’t slowing down significantly before she crashed, as she’d be pretty much a passenger at that point in time.
Perhaps the only bit of fortune in that crash is the fact that Floersch went into the barriers backwards, which would have meant that at least it would have been the rear crash structure that bore the brunt of the collision. There’s still been no further news on the marshal or photographers yet though, but at least it seems that they were all conscious when going to hospital – which I hope is a sign that they were not too seriously injured in that collision.
kpcart
18th November 2018, 11:42
I think there was a random yellow flag light which confused some drivers. apparently she was doing 276kmh into the braking zone. hope shes not paralysed from the incident like Wickens.
the other anon
18th November 2018, 12:36
I think maybe something similar to Sato and Heidfeld crash in Austria 2002. She’s just been at full throttle for 20 seconds, 25 seconds. Brakes weren’t warm enough, hit the pedal and she’s locked it up sending it backwards. Then it looks like she’s hit a wheel which has caused the car to ramp into the fence.
anon
18th November 2018, 12:56
kpcart, it now appears that it is being clarified a bit further – it seems that the marshals were showing a yellow warning light on that straight, probably in error, and it seems that Jehan Daruvala, who was in front of Floersch, started braking earlier than normal after seeing the warning light and assuming that there had been an accident.
Unfortunately, it seems that Floersch was so close behind Jehan that she didn’t have time to react and ran into the back of him, before then riding over the kerb and over Tsuboi’s car before hitting the catch fencing. If so, it does raise questions about the marshalling if there was a yellow warning light being shown when it should have been withdrawn.
Fortunately, it now sounds as if the marshals and photographers, although injured, are not in a critical condition – the marshal appears to have suffered cuts and a broken jaw, with one photographer also suffering from lacerations, whilst the other photographer is concussed but seems to be in a stable condition. Tsuboi has also reported experiencing some pain in his lower back and is currently undergoing further tests, but hopefully nothing has been fractured.
grat
18th November 2018, 23:40
From the video I just watched, she made contact with Daruvala’s car on the straight, which may have broken the left rear suspension. The car rotated 180, and was skipping down the (driver’s) right side of the track backwards, until it made contact with Tsuboi’s car (going around the corner to the right), and was launched (still backwards) into the fence / marshall’s stand.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=445YsTL9fOs for the most information I’ve seen on the crash so far.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
18th November 2018, 9:47
I don’t think I have ever seen a crash like that before. Airborne into a building! I really hope the driver is OK.
ColdFly (@)
18th November 2018, 9:50
Not just the driver(s).
https://twitter.com/insidef1/status/1064089304048123904?s=12
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 10:10
Thanks good spot. Front wheels seem attached anyway so that puts to bed what I heard
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
18th November 2018, 10:34
Yes of course, all those involved. I am pretty surprised all were conscious at least. Good luck to them all.
José Lopes da Silva
18th November 2018, 9:52
There was a massive crash in Suzuka in 1992, which is the closest I can remember. All the best for Floesrch. This will add to Lisboa corner legend, it’s really a high-danger spot.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
18th November 2018, 22:20
Le Mans 1955; Le Mans 1999 – incidents that both involved Mercedes cars. 1955 remains the deadliest accident in motor racing history; 83 killed, 180 injured – many very seriously.
MacLeod (@macleod)
19th November 2018, 10:20
I have seen it on the road several times but during a race never. If you watch the video it’s the car in front of her that lift her into the air no halo could protect you from what hapens after that. A Halo could make it worse directing lines and bars to the driver. I would be more happy if they modify it with a fighter windscreen and on top you can use a halo.
Levente (@leventebandi)
18th November 2018, 9:58
Tictum lucks into a Macau win second year in a row. WEEEW. Last year with the last lap antics, this year with Mick getting caught out in qualy.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 10:03
You can hardly say he lucked into it this year he was peerless all weekend!
GongTong (@gongtong)
18th November 2018, 14:03
I’ve seen some bizarre opinions on motorsports events over the years but this is now the gold standard for me.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for all involved in that horrific crash.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 14:37
Mine? @gongtong
GongTong (@gongtong)
22nd November 2018, 10:13
@fullcourse-caution
Haha, of course not!
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
26th November 2018, 18:05
I realised as much about a minute after posting that lol @gongtong bit of a derpy moment from me there!
Foggy
20th November 2018, 8:36
Won the quali race, set pole position, lead from lights out and lead from the restarts … yeah he sure lucked in.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
18th November 2018, 10:06
How come the F3 cars don’t have a halo?
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th November 2018, 10:14
It’s just taking a while filtering down to the lower series. The new f3 car for next year will have it
Phylyp (@phylyp)
18th November 2018, 13:14
Cheers, @fullcoursecaution
anon
18th November 2018, 10:18
Terrible crash.
That’s what I’ve always feared happening at Monaco.
You can only imagine a crash like Webber at Valencia in Monaco.
Jon
18th November 2018, 13:39
Like Connor Daly’s crash in the GP3 race there in 2012.
https://youtu.be/-RfbQ5fB-qk
Rui (@colinmcrui)
18th November 2018, 10:23
Wow, just watched the replay… Luckily it was not a concrete wall but a tin photographer stand. Hope she’s ok.
erikje
18th November 2018, 10:48
No so lucky for the photographers though.
Postreader
18th November 2018, 11:10
The de-acceleration was insane. How can anyone survive that?
Garns (@)
18th November 2018, 11:12
That was an unbelievable crash, she took probably twice the speed into that corner like the throttle was stuck or she passed out or something!
All thoughts and best of luck to all caught up in it- all on this site love motor racing but not things like this, truly terrible.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
18th November 2018, 22:23
Garns – When all four wheels are off the ground, braking efficiency seems to go out of the window. Any notion why that might be?
BlackJackFan
19th November 2018, 6:22
Really clever to bring facetiousness into the arena. Well done…
Foggy
20th November 2018, 7:40
Numbnut … totally disrespectful, obviously not a real race ran …. people hurt and you think it’s funny.
Foggy
20th November 2018, 7:41
sorry “fan”
Chaitanya
18th November 2018, 12:25
Latest post on twitter shows she is Ok and undergoing an operation tomorrow.
Aleš Norský (@gpfacts)
18th November 2018, 12:26
Insane…hope she will recover!!!
Richard Shaw (@kneegnaw)
18th November 2018, 13:42
If you look closely the car gets launched by the blue sausage kerb on the inside of standard kerb. Can the FIA please stop doing this on street tracks. We saw the same thing in Formula E with Nick Heidfeld season 1, which lead to a bad crash, he was lucky to not clear the barriers. Its fine on normal tracks when you have miles of runoff and you want to stop cars from cutting corners, but it is unsafe for street circuits.
us-brian (@us-brian)
18th November 2018, 14:23
As others said already. Spinal injurirs are always bad. Hope there is no spinal cord damage.
As for the photographers and marshal involved.
One has a concussion, another facial bone fracture and lacerations and one with a lacerated liver.
Read this on BBC news.
Hope all make a speedy and full recovery.