A British racing driver says he survived a fireball crash because another driver stopped his car and pulled him from burning wreckage. Ollie Millroy, 36, was hit by two other cars during the China GT Championship race at the Shanghai International Circuit 11 days ago. His Ferrari caught fire immediately before hitting the safety barriers.
Dutch driver Loek Hartog, 23, saw what was happening and stopped his car to help. Millroy was barely conscious and stuck in the car for over a minute. Hartog ran around to check on him, realised the fire was too bad, grabbed an extinguisher, and got him out of the burning vehicle.
“He acted instantly and he did everything right,” Millroy told BBC Sport from his hospital bed in China. “Watching the video back, it looks like you’re watching a movie and everything’s rehearsed.”
Hartog’s instant decision
Hartog recalls the moment with clarity. He said he was initially scared, tried to run to the car, and saw that Millroy was not making an effort to get out himself.
“I tried to run to the car and I was seeing if he was making an effort himself and quickly realised it was a one-sided quest,” Hartog said. “I saw I needed to free the space around him to get out.”
The car was already stationary by the time Hartog reached it. It took another 59 seconds from when he stopped his car to when Millroy exited the burning vehicle.
“I wish it were sooner,” Hartog said. “There’s a human element to that. I don’t know why I went there; why I chose [to help him]. There was no reasoning, and I explain to myself that it was how I have been taught – how I grew up in some way.”
Millroy’s recovery and memory loss
Millroy suffered several fractures and a punctured lung in the impact. He has no memory of just before the crash or for about an hour after. That gap is affecting him psychologically as he tries to piece together what happened.
“It’s a strange feeling – I’m still not coming to terms with it because I don’t remember any of it,” Millroy said. “I was sort of conscious; I was talking to Loek and I took my helmet off because I had run out of oxygen and I was struggling to breathe.”
“But I wasn’t getting myself out of the car. My body had gone into some sort of survival mode because of the amount of the injuries I’d sustained.”
He described watching the video as though he were watching something else. “I keep waking up at night where my brain is trying to piece together what happened to my body – that frustration seems to be building more and more.”
The reunion planned
Millroy eventually intends to continue racing, but first he is set to be reunited with Hartog. The Dutchman is flying back to China this week so the pair can meet for the first time since the day of the crash.
“It’s so emotional. I feel like I need that closure to give [Hartog] a great big hug,” said Millroy’s wife Fern, who has been by his side since hours after the crash. Their three children are being looked after by Fern’s sister.
“It’s incredible how you can instantly love someone you’ve never met before,” Fern said. “We’ve probably been around the same paddocks over the years, but to love someone who has just taken care of my soulmate and father of our three children, it’s incredibly significant.”
Millroy joked that he cannot take Hartog out anywhere nicer for dinner. “I’m just sorry I can’t take him out anywhere nicer for dinner [when they meet] but I’m tied to machines in the hospital bed,” he said.
Safety lessons ahead
Both drivers expect to work closely together in the future, especially on safety matters. Millroy acknowledged that there will always be an element of risk in the sport.
“There’ll always be an element of risk,” he said. “But we always take that for granted.”
He added: “I never got in that car on that day and thought: ‘I really hope there’s a highly trained and expert fire crew down that corner in case something happens.'”
Hartog echoed that sentiment. “This specific moment is something we can use to make the sport safer – there was a multitude of things that went wrong: I shouldn’t have been the person to help but if it weren’t for me, the outcome could have been very different,” he said.
Millroy said he wants to get back in the car as soon as he feels ready. “As soon as I feel ready I want to get back in the car, but I’ve not been home yet, not seen the kids – there’s a lot of things I want to go through in my head first,” he said.
“I must have said ‘thank you’ a thousand times and I’d say it another thousand times that I’m so unbelievably grateful.”
What organisers said
Organisers issued a statement after the race saying they “will further review and investigate the accident and formulate more comprehensive plans to address shortcomings in competition organisation, support, emergency response, rescue and medical services.”
Millroy has no memory of the crash itself. The first time anyone talked him through it was Loek in the hospital, and the two of them were in floods of tears when Hartog was telling him what happened and how different the result could have been.
| Event | Time |
|---|---|
| Millroy hit by two cars | 11 days ago |
| Car catches fire and hits barriers | Instantly |
| Millroy stuck in car | Over a minute |
| Hartog pulls Millroy from burning vehicle | 59 seconds after stopping his car |
The miracle of survival
Millroy called his survival a miracle. “If you look at the photos and videos of the car, the fact I’ve got out without life-changing burns or even the fact I’m alive – it’s a miracle,” he said.
“It was as though it was meant to be,” he added. “I’m not religious in any way, but it was as though someone had pre-programmed him to get me out of that car.”
What Millroy said about Hartog
Millroy praised Hartog’s decision to put something else ahead of sport. “He made a decision that day he was going to prioritise something else other than sport, and that’s what saved my life,” he said.
He also spoke warmly about Hartog’s upbringing. “We’ve got to know Loek’s parents and you can see how he’s come from the most wonderful, amazing family, and that you don’t have to be a bad guy to be a great sportsman; you can be a really nice guy and really good sportsman,” Millroy said.
The road back
Millroy said he has not been home yet and has not seen his children. He is still processing the crash and the memory loss it caused.
He has said he will not comment too much until the official investigation is complete. “There’s a lot of people wanting a lot of answers,” he said.
For now, the focus is on recovery and the reunion with Hartog. The pair plan to meet in China this week, and both say they want to work together on safety improvements for the sport.
“It’s a miracle I’m alive,” Millroy said.
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