At the 12 Hours of Sebring, the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s Prototype cars brake super-late into turn 17 down from around 170 mph. By the time Joel Miller realized his No. 70 Mazda RT24-P’s brakes didn’t work, it was too late. Here’s the horror ride you never, ever want to take in a race car.
Miller started to turn in for turn 17, but then realized that he wasn’t going to make it in time and straight-lined it into the run-off area. The car was still too fast to avoid whacking the wall.
Fortunately, Miller hit bundled-together tires behind the barrier and not a concrete wall. The tires in the wall are bundled together in big blocks, as you can see from the external view. Springy! But still, you don’t want to hit that.
Mazda is already getting ready in the pits to try and mend the car. Miller was also able to get out under his own power, but will have to have a check-up with the medical team before he’s allowed to continue due to the hard hit. Hey, points are points and finishing is a virtue here.
This brought out the first full-course yellow just an hour into this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring so that track staff could repair the barrier.
UPDATE [11:06 a.m.]: Get this man back in the car. Joel Miller has been checked over and is okay.
UPDATE #2 [11:19 a.m.]: Mazda confirmed that the No. 70 will return to the race and also showed off what their car’s nose looked like after that mega wall hit:
UPDATE #3 [12:09 p.m.]: As a testament to how crazy stout these cars are, the No. 70 has been put back together and is back out just a little over an hour later.