Moment Brit racing driver’s Ferrari bursts into flames after smash… before ‘superhero’ rival rushes towards fireball and saves his life

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A British racing driver narrowly escaped death after his Ferrari burst into flames during a China GT event at the Shanghai International Circuit, in a crash captured on video that has since gone viral. Ollie Millroy, 36, was navigating a bend when two other cars collided with his vehicle, sending it spinning off the track before it erupted into a fireball, with thick smoke billowing into the air.

Fellow competitor Loek Hartog, a 23-year-old Dutch driver, immediately abandoned his own race and pulled over beside the wreckage. Footage from a camera mounted near his seat shows him tearing off his seatbelt and sprinting towards the burning car to search for Millroy, who was trapped inside. Unable to free him straight away, Hartog located a fire extinguisher to tackle the flames before emergency crews arrived; he and track marshals then worked together to drag Millroy clear of the blaze, with the two men later seen sitting side by side on a trackside barrier once the Briton had been pulled to safety.

Writing from his hospital bed, Millroy said he had no memory of the half-minute before the impact or the hour that followed, but praised Hartog for acting without hesitation despite no marshals or fire crews yet being on the scene. He described suffering five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken hand and finger, and a bruised lung, adding that he intended to tell his three children one day about the man he called their real-life superhero. Hartog, for his part, said he had not paused to weigh up the danger when he saw the fireball ahead, admitting there were frightening moments when he doubted he would manage to free Millroy, though he played down his own role, suggesting many others would have done the same.

Further updates came from Millroy's wife, Fern, who has been at his bedside in Shanghai and said she still could not quite believe he had survived. She reported that surgery focused mainly on his right hand had gone well, leaving him with metal fixings along his collarbone and inside his hand, alongside six broken ribs held with a compression wrap and breathing support after his blood oxygen levels dropped too low. The couple, married since October 2021 and parents to three young children, both credited Hartog directly with saving Millroy's life. Hartog later reflected publicly on the support he had received from the racing community, saying he hoped the episode would push for changes so that no other driver and family have to endure the same ordeal.

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