Horror Crash at Enduro Race Destroys Camera Stand, Narrowly Misses Spectators
It’s a scary reminder why racing circuits need barriers to keep cars and spectators separate at all times.
Despite ever-increasing efforts to improve safety, motorsport remains dangerous through a combination of speed and unpredictability. This was more than evident at a Lithuanian race Saturday when the leading Porsche spun off the track in chaotic scenes. it misses the cars by an inch
According to 7News, the incident took place at the Aurum 1006 KM race at the Palanga Circuit in Lithuania. Running on a converted stretch of the Palanga-Klaipeda-Kretinga highway, the event is contested by a variety of endurance and touring cars in mixed-class competition. The incident occurred when the No. 91 Porsche 911 lost control leaving the pits, taking out a camera stand as it tumbled off the circuit and into a ditch.
In footage shared by local network TV3, adults and children could be seen rushing out of the path of the tumbling structure. The camera operator clung to the falling tower while the Porsche itself wound up on its roof. Miraculously, nobody was hurt, with an ambulance attending the scene for precautionary checks.
The Porsche had been leading the race at the time with Baltic Touring Car driver Tautvydas Rudokas behind the wheel. The team had just changed from wet to slick tires as the track dried. Amidst the changing conditions, Rudokas spun out as he accelerated out of the pits in a relatively low-speed incident.
The event was later won by the Stateta BRO running a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The team notably featured ex-F1 driver Jos Magnussen, his former Le Mans teammate Anders Fjordbach, and Lithuanian drivers Eimantas Navikauskas and Edvinas Žadeikis.
While nobody was injured in the incident, that's almost entirely down to luck in this case. Rudokas went off track in an area full of trees, spectators, and vulnerable infrastructure. Much of the motorsports world has learned that these elements and high-speed track events simply don't mix.
Street circuits like Palanga are naturally compromised when it comes to safety, but measures must be taken to avoid crashes like these turning into tragedies in the future. Barriers, anyone?
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