CCTV footage of a crash involving Trans Am driver Chris Pappas shows the seconds before his McLaren smashes into a pole and bursts into flames on the Gold Coast last night.
Pappas is lucky to be alive according to paramedics that attended the scene of a single-vehicle crash on the corner of Ashmore Road and Upton Street, in Bundall, at 22:00 AEST.
The holder of a Motorsport Australia racing licence, the 34-year-old has competed in both the National Trans Am Series and TA2 Muscle Car Series, and was due to contest Round 4 of the TA2 Muscle Car Series at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
Nearby residents and bystanders freed Pappas and his passenger, a 31-year-old Southport female, from the wreck, as it burst into flames.
“They’re extremely lucky,” said Adam Flory, Queensland Ambulance Service Senior Operations Supervisor, when asked if the pair were lucky to be alive.
“Any other day, if there had been no bystanders that would have been a totally different outcome for that incident.
“It’s worth noting that without the courageous bystanders and residents, if they didn’t intervene, this would have been quite a different story.”
Flory said first responders and bystanders were faced with a confronting scene.
“On arrival, we found a vehicle that was well lit on fire, as well as two patients that were laying on the road and footpath,” Flory said.
“The scene was extremely difficult, in that the car collided with the telegraph pole, snapped it off with the ground, and we had live power lines across the road.
“The vehicle was on fire, which was leading to explosions, while the power lines above were arcing as well.
“So there was a degree of danger, to the first responders to the case, as well as the bystanders involved as well.”
The Queensland Police Service is making enquiries into the cause of the crash, as part of ongoing investigations.
