Australian racing driver Bailey Sweeny has pulled off one of the most remarkable saves you’re ever likely to see while competing in a Toyota 86 race event.
The miraculous save was made at Sandown Raceway just outside of Melbourne. At the time, Sweeny was fighting to maintain 5th position heading into the last lap of the race.
Footage from the race shows that as Sweeny moved to the left of the track to block a competitor, his rear-end was tapped by the other car. This immediately sent Sweeny’s 86 into a violent tank slapper and careening towards the concrete crash barriers at high speed.
However, Sweeny wasn’t simply resigned to crashing the Toyota and quickly jumped on the brakes. The 86’s tires then regained traction and Sweeny threw it into a rapid J-turn and ended up facing back into the right direction. Remarkably, he managed to avoid being collected by any of his competitors and was able to retain control the entire time.
Obviously, luck played its part in the near-miss but you also can’t make a save like this without having some serious driving skills under your belt.
Sweeny ultimately ended down in 12th position after his unexpected adventure to the side of the track but immediately got back into the task of racing and immediately made a thrilling overtake to move himself up to 11th.
watching the toyota 86 support race at sandown and my god HOW pic.twitter.com/DZNrmM5yMl
— Hunter Wofford (@Hunter_Wofford) August 20, 2022