Watch: Aston Martin Vantage Racer Nearly Flies Into Crowd at Bathurst 12 Hour
In other news, one trackside photographer buys every lottery ticket within 100 miles of Mount Panorama.
A terrifying scene unfolded during qualifying for this weekend's Bathurst 12 Hour, as the R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Marvin Kirchhoefer clipped a wall and slid on its side past several nearby spectators. Both the driver and the crowd escaped without injury, but the crash could have ended much differently if the car had moved even slightly one way or the other.
In the video above, you can see several cars pass by without incident before the Aston's fate unfolds. Kirchhoefer seemingly bumped a wall while coming around the previous corner, which caused him to lose rear traction, turning the car around. The Aston barreled backward into the concrete wall and flipped on its side before coming dangerously close to the crowd of people standing beside the track.
That photographer's either counting his lucky stars or hacked that he missed the shot of a lifetime. Either way, we're glad he's safe.
The crash was every bit as gnarly as it looks, but things could have ended up much worse. Kirchhoefer walked away from the wreck without major injury, and none of the spectators sitting feet away from the flung Aston were hurt. That's saying something given all the debris that was thrown into the air at high speeds.
The crash was the second major accident that happened prior to this weekend's Bathurst 12 Hour, after Sam Shahin and Tyler Everingham got tangled up in qualifying. Shahin’s Mercedes was hit and bounced off a wall; a couple of other drivers narrowly missed the Benz as it careened across the track, but Everingham wasn’t quite as blessed. Both drivers walked away from that crash as well, though Everingham reportedly took a trip to the hospital for a leg injury.
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