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Former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Frenchman Christophe Bouchut saw his car catch fire during the 6 Hours of Fuji, round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Bouchut smelled something burning inside his Lotus CLM P1/01 AER, and he drove straight into the pit lane so the marshals could quickly enter into action.
While escaping serious injury, Bouchut sustained burns to his eyebrows in the blaze, which was sparked by a fuel pump malfunction that leaked petrol into the cockpit of the car.
“I came close to a catastrophic situation,” Bouchut told Endurance-Info.
“When I stopped the car, there already was a fire in the cockpit. Everything inside was in flames. My left glove has been burnt as if it had been thrown in a fireplace.
“I stayed [in the car] between 10 and 15 seconds. We can only thank the safety standards of drivers' equipment. I also have to thank the Rebellion Racing team, who rushed to extinguish the fire. Without them, the car would have certainly been completely burned.”
The fire came only three weeks after Bouchut was nearly hit by a spinning car during the heavy downpour at Circuit of The Americas, which was eventually red-flagged due to the conditions.
“I prefer to end my season with Lotus...” the Frenchman declared.
Bouchut smelled something burning inside his Lotus CLM P1/01 AER, and he drove straight into the pit lane so the marshals could quickly enter into action.
 |
| Christophe Bouchut, Lotus (Photo: John Rourke/AdrenalMedia.com) |
While escaping serious injury, Bouchut sustained burns to his eyebrows in the blaze, which was sparked by a fuel pump malfunction that leaked petrol into the cockpit of the car.
“I came close to a catastrophic situation,” Bouchut told Endurance-Info.
“When I stopped the car, there already was a fire in the cockpit. Everything inside was in flames. My left glove has been burnt as if it had been thrown in a fireplace.
“I stayed [in the car] between 10 and 15 seconds. We can only thank the safety standards of drivers' equipment. I also have to thank the Rebellion Racing team, who rushed to extinguish the fire. Without them, the car would have certainly been completely burned.”
 |
| Christophe Bouchut, Lotus (Photo: John Rourke/AdrenalMedia.com) |
The fire came only three weeks after Bouchut was nearly hit by a spinning car during the heavy downpour at Circuit of The Americas, which was eventually red-flagged due to the conditions.
“I prefer to end my season with Lotus...” the Frenchman declared.