Shocking moment in Oberhallau: During the hill climb on Sunday afternoon, a driver lost control of his car and crashed into a tree. The crash tore the car into several pieces, the largest piece of wreckage crashed into a second tree.
Joel Burgermeister (33) was behind the wheel of the Tatuus Formula 4 Evo with 320 hp, which cost over 80,000 Swiss francs. On Monday, the car mechanic from Thurgau told the “TeleZüri” audience, lying in his hospital bed, how he experienced the shocking moments.
He saw the tree shortly before the impact as he was driving towards it. “I thought I wouldn’t get out alive,” he says and starts to cry. “But I had a lot of guardian angels.”
Burgermeister suffered a few broken ribs and an injured shoulder from the accident. He will have to remain in the hospital until Tuesday.
He explains the cause of the accident by saying that he wanted to set a record. “At some point you reach your limit. And there is very, very little room between ‘at the limit’ and ‘over the limit’.” But he also says: “If I was physically able, I would get back in and drive this afternoon. That’s the only right thing to do as a racing driver.”
According to OK President Sascha Schlatter, the course in Oberhallau has comparatively many trees, he told local television, which is why there are also many safety measures.
For example, the trees are protected with stacks of tires and straw. This – along with the safety features in Burgermeister’s car – may also have been a reason why the 33-year-old was not more seriously injured.
Despite all the safety precautions, the hill climb races are not without danger: 2017 was a bad year for accidents, with a major accident occurring in practically every one of the seven races of the Swiss Hill Climb Championship.
In Oberhallau, a 33-year-old participant died when he collided with a tree. In the same year, TV star Richard Hammond from the show “Top Gear” flew off the track in Hemberg SG.
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