A regular competitor in GT4 Australia, Soole was at the Eastern Creek circuit for a ride day with sponsors when his car burst into flames.

Taking to social media, he explained the sequence of events that wound up with him and his teammate in hospital with burns.

“After refuelling the car there was an explosion which started on the passenger side of the car,” he wrote.

“Our teammate was burnt very badly, yet he still managed to rush for an extinguisher to help put the fire out before he realized his own injuries.

“The fire quickly progressed to the driver’s side of the car, which I was still strapped into.

“My mechanic Mitchell Brooks quickly tried to get me out of the car, but for a number of reasons I was stuck and could not get out.

“The flames got too much for Mitch and he jumped back to grab a fire extinguisher to get the fire out.

“I tried frantically to get out of the car but could not get past the flames and was stuck in the car, which was now completely engulfed in flames.”

Soole said the situation was so dire he thought he would die in the car.

“I can’t explain the feeling of this other than one of disbelief,” he continued.

“One minute I was comfortably sitting there and a split second later, I was at the gates of hell.

“Every sense went to 11 and your brain just can’t process what is happening fast enough.

“Once Mitch had pulled back due to the flames, I felt completely alone and honestly thought that was the end.

“That 15 seconds felt like a lifetime and eventually, I was blasted with extinguishers from all angles and Mitch dragged me out of the car head first and was swiftly treated by paramedics.”

Soole was treated for burns to his face while his mechanic suffered second-degree burns.

He underwent surgery on Saturday and Soole said he should recover well due to the quick response of onsite paramedics.

Soole hailed Brooks’ heroics, crediting him with saving his life. He also paid tribute to the paramedics, the Concord Hospital Burn Unit, his wife Tammie and daughter Summie.

“Firstly I would like to thank Mitch. I owe him my life and he was like Superman risking his own life to try and save me and very lucky to come out without injury,” said Soole.

Soole said he would be investigating the incident to understand what went wrong to cause the fire.