Thesun.co.uk: This is the terrifying moment when Indycar star Tony Kanaan was nearly fried alive in his cockpit.
Kanaan and his car were sprayed with fuel when a pit stop went disastrously wrong.
The hot motor ignited the ethanol/petrol mixture.
As Kanaan pulled away from his pit, he left a spectacular blazing trail. And more flames erupted in his cockpit, leaping up around his steering wheel from the floor of the Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda.
Kanaan came to a halt, engulfed by fire.
He closed his eyes so they would not be burned, held his breath to avoid inhalation damage to his lungs - and desperately attempted to unfasten his seat belts so he could leap out.
Pit crew members of the rival Penske, Chip Ganassi and Panther teams rushed to help, showering him with water and tugging the "blind" driver free.
NEEDING HELP ... Kanaan's car is engulfed in flames
NEEDING HELP ... Kanaan's car is engulfed in flames
He managed to struggle to the pit wall, where he sat looking shocked before being taken to the medical centre at Canada's Edmonton circuit.
Amazingly, Kanaan escaped with second degree burns to his hands and minor facial burns.
But he returned to the pits before the end of the race - and even managed a joke, saying: "I wanted to set the world on fire today but not in this way."
11 Comments
westySmoking
deputydoghave i had my head up my arse for the past 20 years or have the past couple of weeks been particularly bad for motorsports?
either way, you'd never catch me driving one of those fuckers.
PostMortem>> ^deputydog:
...have the past couple of weeks been particularly bad for motorsports?
Yup, it's been pretty bad.
lucky760Holy crap.
Heartwarming to see how quickly and violently the other teams attacked that fire and pulled the driver free.
ant>> ^lucky760:
Holy crap.
Heartwarming to see how quickly and violently the other teams attacked that fire and pulled the driver free.
Ditto. Good job for them!!
Mazesays...Wow. From the first angle I didn't think much of it. But that cockpit cam was scary stuff. Well done to all involved, including the driver who cleared his teammates before stopping so he wouldn't burn them.
TrancecoachWho would've thought that driving a car 200 MPH in a circle wasn't a safe activity?
RedSky>> ^lucky760:
Holy crap.
Heartwarming to see how quickly and violently the other teams attacked that fire and pulled the driver free.
On the other hand his team seemed content just putting out the fire remnants on the asphalt ... passive aggressiveness maybe?
No doubt though the pit stop workers are all incredibly well trained in working together and efficiency so rushing in like that would have been second nature to them.
PaybackUpvote for the 70's disco title!
Burn burn burn, Indy Inferno!!!
dannym3141Man that is the kind of backup i want whenever i'm in shit. Those guys were on the CASE.
siftbotTags for this video have been changed from 'tony kanaan, indy, fuel, ignite, inferno, burn, pit stop, edmunton, indycar' to 'tony kanaan, indy, fuel, ignite, inferno, burn, pit stop, edmonton, indycar' - edited by Fusionaut
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