Promising Racer, 26, Dead in Training Crash

Sean Edwards was instructing 20-year-old driver
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 16, 2013 11:38 AM CDT
Promising Racer, 26, Dead in Training Crash
British driver Sean Edwards in action to win the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Monaco on Sunday, May 26, 2013.   (Bodo Kr?ling/Porsche AG via AP Images)

Sean Edwards, a promising British racer and son of ex-Formula One driver Guy Edwards, died yesterday in a crash during training. He was 26. Edwards, the Porsche Supercup Championship leader, was in the passenger seat as an instructor for a private training session at Queensland Raceway at Willowbank, outside Brisbane, Porsche Motorsport said. A 20-year-old local driver was behind the wheel when the car crashed into a tire wall, hit a barrier, and caught fire. The driver was taken to a hospital and is reported to be in critical condition with severe burns and broken bones.

Edwards was recently involved in director Ron Howard's movie Rush about the 1976 Formula One season. Guy Edwards was one of the drivers who helped pull Niki Lauda from his burning car during the 1976 German Grand Prix. Hartmut Kristen, Head of Motorsport at Porsche, described the younger Edwards as "one of the most popular and successful" drivers in the Porsche series. Edwards won the Nurburgring and Dubai 24 Hours this year. The British Motor Sports Association said: "Sean was a hugely promising young racer who came through the junior formulas in Britain before making a career in international sports car racing." (More car race stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X