Tomorrow we will race after a minute of silence
The 66-year-old Juha Miettinen died following injuries sustained in an accident involving 7 cars during the second lap of the first of two NLS ‘Qualifiers’ races scheduled for this weekend at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, races in which Max Verstappen is also entered. The pile-up appears to have been caused by an oil leak in the Klostertal section just before the Karussel.
This is the official statement released by the Nurburgring: “During the first ADAC 24h Nürburgring qualifying race, a serious accident involving seven competitors occurred in the early stages. Following the pile-up involving several vehicles, race control immediately stopped the race to allow for recovery and rescue operations. Despite the immediate intervention of emergency services, paramedics were unable to save one involved driver, Juha Miettinen (at the wheel of BMW 325i, number 121); the driver died at the Medical Center after all resuscitation attempts proved futile. The other six involved drivers were transported to the Medical Center and nearby hospitals for precautionary checks. None of the injured are in life-threatening condition. The race will not resume on Saturday evening. The thoughts of everyone involved in the Nürburgring 24 Hours go out to the grieving family of Juha Miettinen. A minute of silence will be observed in memory of the deceased driver before the start of Sunday’s race scheduled for 1:00 PM.”
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Max Verstappen was supposed to do the second stint; at the time of the collision on track, Lucas Auer was at the wheel of the Mercedes #3.
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