Racing driver’s amazing escape from fireball

Amazingly Abbott escaped almost completely unscathed, with only mild burns to his hands

These unbelievable pictures document the moment racing driver Hunter Abbott lost control of his racing car, which exploded upon impact with the crash barrier.

Abbott was racing in round one of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire when he left the road travelling at over 100mph, somersaulting his car through the air.

As the £50,000 Ginetta G50 exploded into pieces it burst into flames in mid air before coming to a rest upside down and on fire.

View more pictures of Abbott's crash

Oulton Park’s safety marshals leapt into action, running to the ruined car to help Abbott escape AND putting out fire on his legs with fire extinguishers.

Amazingly Abbott escaped almost completely unscathed, with only mild burns to his hands – a testament to the marshals who sprung to his aid and the safety-cell built into his racing car.

Photographer Peter Taylor captured the event and said, “When I first saw it I thought 'this is going to be bad' but when the car finally came to a stop it only took the driver two or three seconds to get out.

“I was standing quite a distance from the crash so I wasn't worried it was going to hit me. I was very relieved he was alright."

Oulton Park’s incident officer, Steve Roberts was one of the first on the scene and said, “As soon as he went off we knew it was going to be big [impact]. The drivers’ door was stuck shut and it was hard to see if he was still in there, but thankfully he was alright.”

View more pictures of Abbott's crash