Watch a Porsche Clear the Fence at Suzuka in Terrifying Crash

One of the big talking points from Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix was the scary 50g impact sustained by Haas’s Ollie Bearman, who lost control after swerving onto the grass to avoid slower moving Alpine driver Franco Colapinto at one of the fastest parts of Suzuka Circuit. The incident has raised further questions around the safety of F1’s controversial new regulations, as Colapinto’s much lower speed was due to him harvesting energy while Bearman was deploying it. 

But in terms of sheer drama, that arguably wasn’t the biggest crash during the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix. That came during Sunday’s Porsche Carrera Cup Japan support race, when a car was launched into a roll so spectacular it cleared the tall catch fencing that’s specifically designed to keep wayward cars safely in the confines of the racetrack.

The incident was caused when CREF Motor Sport driver Masa Taga and a driver for the NRG team entering under the pseudonym ‘Hiro’ found themselves side by side on the exit of Suzuka’s ultra-tight turn 11 hairpin. Rounding the fast right-hand sweeper that follows, Hiro drifted from the inside of the corner towards the outside while Taga essentially did the opposite, leading to the pair coming together.

The angle and speed of the impact immediately sent Taga’s car airborne and into a spectacular roll, and with Suzuka’s limited runoff, it was still in the air when it hit the tyre wall, which then served to further launch the car upwards and over the catch fencing.

Thankfully, a grass bank stopped the car from getting any nearer to the grandstand situated behind the fence, although the broadcast footage of the crash shows spectators running for safety. Both Taga and Hiro escaped serious injury, too. The crash delayed the start of the Japanese Grand Prix for 10 minutes as damage to the fence was repaired.

It’s rare to see an incident like this when a race car escapes the very thing that’s supposed to keep it separate from spectators and the various hazards found outside of the racing surface. It’s thankful that nobody was seriously hurt or worse as a result, and a reminder that no matter how many safety precautions are taken, motorsports is unpredictable and freak incidents like this can still happen.