‘There were sparks and the exhaust threw out a flame but I walked away’: Laurens Vanthoor recounts harrowing crash in last year’s Macau GT Cup

For Laurens Vanthoor, it’s a moment that remains frozen in time.

As the Belgian driver approached the Mandarin bend near the end of last year’s SJM Macau GT Cup – FIA GT World Cup, his car clipped the Armco barriers and shot suddenly skyward before landing on its roof as sparks flew.

But, somehow, the approaching field missed the upturned Audi R8 LMS – with Vanthoor still trapped inside – and he was able to walk away from the damage, uninjured.

“It was pretty scary,” the 26-year-old Vanthoor said. “You don’t know what’s happening and then all of a sudden you’re flying through the air. You have no control and you see all the other cars coming through at you.

“There were some sparks and the exhaust threw out a bit of a flame, but I walked away without anything – no bruises, I didn’t feel sore, there was not even a scratch.”