Yup, that was my car that caused it. Towards the end of the qualifying session going into turn 3 the sampling port on the fuel rail failed and caused fuel to spray into the engine bay resulting in a "spectacular" blaze.
Luckily, I recalled hearing in the driver's meeting the fire crew was located at turn 5 so I made my way towards the turn 4 station while on fire and stopped to exit the car. Big thanks to the turn 4 workers, the fire crew, medical team, all the volunteers for the excellent response and care throughout the ordeal.
I recall waving some cars by as I made my way to turn 4, called it in on the radio, aimed the car and shut down the engine as soon as I was close enough to coast to a stop. I undid my belts, slid the seat back, popped the hood, and then worked on getting out as smoke was filling the cockpit. I had minor smoke inhalation but nothing else.
Looking back on it now I need to practice my exits as I should have been out of the car more quickly. I actually got the radio cable on the left side of my helmet stuck on the hans as it took me a second attempt to exit. I was running a longer cable than I normally do so that was enough to trip me up a bit.
The excitement was over quickly but I left the rear cam footage run to show the great work of the fire safety crew. Be sure to watch the video to the end as that is the most entertaining part, perfect ending Darren!
Again, thanks to all the workers, can't say it enough!
Despite all that, I did get pole.
Luckily, I recalled hearing in the driver's meeting the fire crew was located at turn 5 so I made my way towards the turn 4 station while on fire and stopped to exit the car. Big thanks to the turn 4 workers, the fire crew, medical team, all the volunteers for the excellent response and care throughout the ordeal.
I recall waving some cars by as I made my way to turn 4, called it in on the radio, aimed the car and shut down the engine as soon as I was close enough to coast to a stop. I undid my belts, slid the seat back, popped the hood, and then worked on getting out as smoke was filling the cockpit. I had minor smoke inhalation but nothing else.
Looking back on it now I need to practice my exits as I should have been out of the car more quickly. I actually got the radio cable on the left side of my helmet stuck on the hans as it took me a second attempt to exit. I was running a longer cable than I normally do so that was enough to trip me up a bit.
The excitement was over quickly but I left the rear cam footage run to show the great work of the fire safety crew. Be sure to watch the video to the end as that is the most entertaining part, perfect ending Darren!
Again, thanks to all the workers, can't say it enough!
Despite all that, I did get pole.