UPDATE: Goodwood crash driver '˜conscious'

The son of the racing driver airlifted from Goodwood after a horror crash says his father has some broken bones but should be OK.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Mar 2016, 16:09 BST
Updated 21st Mar 2016, 17:24 BST

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Goodwood Members' Meeting 2016. None of the pictured cars were involved in either accidentGoodwood Members' Meeting 2016. None of the pictured cars were involved in either accident
Goodwood Members' Meeting 2016. None of the pictured cars were involved in either accident

Driver Michiel Smits was the second racer to crash on the Sunday of the 74th Goodwood Members’ Meeting, following Stephen Bond’s dramatic car flip just before 4pm (YouTube clip of crash below).

Posting on the car forum www.pistonheads.com, Sam van der Werff said: “I’d like to update you about the driver from the Lola T70 in car number #2 which crashed yesterday during the Bruce McLaren Trophy at the 74th MM at Goodwood.

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“He is my dad and in consultation with other family members we decided to give you some information.

“He is a bit shaken and bruised, but conscious. Apart from the abrasions and cuts he has broken a rib and two vertebrae.

“The good thing is that there isn’t any damage to the spinal cord. Let’s hope he’ll recover soon!”

Smits’ crash happened just before 4pm on Sunday, several hours after Bond collided with another racer at 9am and as a result saw his car somersault into the air and appear to land in a tunnel below the track.

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He is said to have only suffered a broken collarbone, while Goodwood confirmed that no spectators were injured by his wheel, which flew off and landed close to watching spectators.

One fan’s comments on the forum are typical of other posts. He said: “I also witnessed the single seater accident this morning, horrible to see but glad to hear the driver is not seriously injured. Amazing no one was killed.

“The Lola in this afternoon’s accident is probably the worst I’ve ever seen a race car after an accident, hopefully the driver isn’t seriously injured and makes a full recovery.

“For me today wasn’t very enjoyable, all the stoppages and knowing people have been injured just overshadowed the day.”

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Related topics:GoodwoodYouTube