The gods of motorsport were watching over the Algarve International Circuit on Friday, as everyone escaped unscathed following a massive, and nearly tragic crash. A Porsche 911 cup car, driven by Alex Areia, was the victim of a brake failure on its way into a corner, and wound up in the grandstands.
The accident was first posted to TikTok by wls350z. Shot from the grandstands at the Portuguese track, the video only catches the crash as it’s happening. The speed and ferocity of the collision are effectively conveyed by the footage, though.
The car can be seen slamming into the barriers, before vaulting over the fence, and winding up just feet away from a group of attendees. Another shot, shared to Twitter by Jarno Saari, shows that driver Alex Areia managed to steer the 991.2 generation Porsche 911 GT Cup into the corner slightly, potentially avoiding the onlookers. In a tweet of his own, he wrote that the car lost its brakes at the end of a straight.
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“I practically became a passenger,” Areia wrote, as translated by Twitter. “Luckily no one was in that area of the grandstand and I managed to get out of the accident unharmed, thanks to the safety level of that car.”
The accident occurred during a practice session at the Algarve International Circuit. Areia was driving in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Iberica, which is being run alongside the FIA World Endurance Challenge 6 Hours of Portimão this weekend.
It is not yet clear if the crash will have any impact on the running of the race. Beyond the damage to the barriers, the accident raises questions about overall track safety. We have reached out to the FIA for more information, but have not yet received a response.
Fortunately, everyone came away from this incident unscathed, thanks to the safety measures that protect the driver. Were it not for the sheer luck of there being no one under the car, the crash would have almost certainly ended tragically, though.