During a test run
Two people lost their lives on Wednesday August 9 at the German Nürburgring circuit. One of them is known in the world of motorsport in Luxembourg.
Two people lost their lives on Wednesday, August 9, on the Nürburgring circuit, in the Eifel in Germany, during a commercial test race. “A vehicle participating in the test races had an accident in which it was involved alone, on the Tiergarten section,” the Nürburgring spokesman announced on Thursday. Police have confirmed that an accident left two people dead. According to reports, the two drivers were ejected from the test car. A rescue operation was immediately put in place, but the two occupants of the vehicle died at the scene of the accident.
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One of the two victims is the Luxembourger Christian Franck. The 39-year-old has been making a name for himself on the national motorsport scene for years. He won numerous victories and championship titles, both in karting and in slalom and hill climbs. Franck has also been active internationally. Thus, the 39-year-old man, who leaves behind his wife and a child, raced in Germany in the supertourism car trophy (STT), which he won in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he was elected motor sportsman of the year in Luxembourg and won both the slalom championship and the circuit championship that year.
-Tire burst
Franck had plenty of experience on the Nürburgring. On Wednesday, he was testing tires for the manufacturer Goodyear and was driving a Porsche at the time of the accident. The second victim would be a German tire engineer. According to information from Luxemburger Wort, a fraction of a second before the tragedy, a tire burst while the vehicle was launched at a speed well over 200 km/h. The driver of the car was killed instantly, the accident being unavoidable.
“We are deeply saddened that two Luxembourg-based Goodyear employees died in a car crash at a test track in Germany on August 9,” Goodyear Germany’s communications team said Thursday. “We support the local authorities in the investigation.”
As part of the so-called “industrial pool”, companies and manufacturers regularly test their vehicles and products on the Nürburgring. The Tiergarten section is at the 19th kilometer of the 20.832 kilometer circuit, which has 73 turns. This area is infamous for its depression in which cars tend to lose grip, before the Hohenrain chicane which leads to the start and finish straight.
This article was originally published on the Luxemburger Wort website.
Adaptation: Laura Bannier
