Porsche ends up in the grandstand during a race on the Portimao circuit, no injuries – Corriere.it

It could have been a tragedy, but fortunately it wasn’t. A frightening accident ruined the second free practice of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Iberian: Alexandre Areia’s car finished its run in the stands, which were empty at the time. it all happened at the WEC’s side event, at the Portimao international racetrack, in Portugal. A lot of fear in the Algarve circuit when the Porsche of the team Monteiros Competicoes, led by Areia, who ended up in the stands after a bad impact with the barriers. The driver was unharmed and incredibly no consequences for those watching from the grandstand in front of turn 1, the area where the impact occurred.

The images made it possible to reconstruct what happened. Areia he lost control of the vehicle in the first corner, ending up at high speed in the escape route. The gravel didn’t slow her down Porsche, with an inevitable impact against the tire wall. A collision so violent as to throw the car towards the grandstands. As mentioned, at that moment they were empty and only in this way could a tragedy be avoided. And now there is no shortage of controversy over safety, which has already involved the international racetrack of the Algarve in the recent past. In fact, gravel caused discussion in MotoGP, judged by the riders to be too thick and, therefore, dangerous in the event of a fall. Furthermore, the CEO of Dorna, Carmelo Ezpeleta, has advocated a renewal of the escape routes, with new gravel allowed. If all this is not sorted out, the Portuguese GP will skip in 2024.