Motorsport is a game of inches and tenths. A few inches here and a few tenths of a second there can mean the difference between spectacle and tragedy. Case in point: Team ORECA driver Stephane Ortelli's horrifying crash during today's Le Mans Series race at Monza. Ortelli, driving the ORECA Courage LC70-Judd, lost control of the car, which spun off the pavement and onto the grass. The prototype then became airborne, barely missing Allan McNish in the Audi R10 TDI. And then things got really ugly. The Courage touched back down and went into a series of cartwheels, shedding bodywork all over the place before crashing into the wall and landing right-side up. Ortelli suffered a broken ankle, but Team ORECA reports he is otherwise in good health. As you'll see in the video, things could have been a whole lot worse. You know. A few inches here, a few tenths there...
We wish him a speedy recovery.