We are all aware that motorsport is dangerous, but often we overlook the fact that both spectators and media personnel can be injured, or even worse killed — which is exactly what happened over the weekend of March 28–29 at the VLN endurance race at the Nürburgring race circuit in Germany.
Jann Mardenborough was piloting the Nismo GT-R when it left the track, for reasons which are still unknown according to Nismo, over the weekend. It then proceeded to make its way through the safety fence and into the spectators area, injuring several people and killing one.
Jann was checked by medical officials at the track and he has not received any major injuries, which says a lot about how far driver safety has come, but not so much about how far spectator and media personnel safety has come.
Here’s an excerpt from a press release from Nismo:
“Today’s events have been a tragedy. We are all deeply shocked and saddened by these events and our immediate thoughts go to the deceased, those injured and their families and friends.
“The team is fully co-operating with the race organizers to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident.”
Although you don’t see the vehicle hitting the spectators, viewer discretion is still advised for the video below: