Team calls Chinese race organizers ‘grossly negligent’ in conduct around fiery crash

A car racing team whose injured driver was rescued by another competitor after a horrific crash in Shanghai on Saturday has called the organizers “grossly negligent in the safety response” and said it is withdrawing from future events in China.

A car racing team whose injured driver was rescued by another competitor after a horrific crash in Shanghai on Saturday has called the organizers “grossly negligent in the safety response” and said it is withdrawing from future events in China.

The car of British driver Ollie Millroy exploded into flames in a GT race at the Shanghai International Circuit. And it was another driver, Loek Hartog, who stopped his car and, armed with a fire extinguisher, pulled Millroy out of the burning wreckage.

“I am still alive tonight, entirely thanks to one man. Loek Hartog stopped instantly with no flag marshals or fire crews in sight and risked his own life to get me out of the car,” Millroy wrote on his Instagram account. “I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and 1 hour after it, but I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life.”

Hartog responded with humility to the praise.

“You have nothing to thank me for,” he said. “I wish to live in a world where this would not be considered as bravery — but as the instinct of others, too. I am so grateful to have been at the place I needed to be.”