There was eight minutes of the qualifying session remaining when Donnelly’s front-suspension failed at a fast right-hand turn and he collided, head-on, with the barrier.
I hit the barrier at 167 miles per hour and the impact went through 42 G (to put it in context, the force experienced by someone during the opening of a parachute is about 6G). Thankfully for me, the tub was lightweight because we had a massive V12 Lamborghini engine and the tub had to be modified because we couldn’t get into it. So the fact it was light, when it hit the barrier it shattered and I went with the inertia – that’s what saved my life.”
The car was crushed, broken in half by the impact. Donnelly was flung through the air, landing 40 metres further up the track.
As he lay motionless on the ground, the TV cameras focused and zoomed in.
The pictures were disturbing.
Beneath him, one of his legs stuck out at a disgusting angle. It was impossible to figure out what leg it was. He was a mangled mess, slumped in a heap. The footage was tough to stomach – it was made worse by the fact that Donnelly’s seat was still attached to him.