Driver #89 car flies into a tire wall and leaves the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on the back of a flatbed truck.
Nothing gets priorities in the right order like a disaster. If you’ve ever been in a traffic accident, you know that only one thing counts at the moment of impact. It doesn’t matter how shiny your car’s paint is. How much horsepower its engine generates is irrelevant. The fact that it has open-pore wood trim is trivial. The only feature about it that’s significant when contact occurs is its structural integrity. We’re sure the driver of this Mercedes-AMG GT3 car who wiped out at the 2018 24 Hours of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps would agree.
Mercedes-AMG started racing the GT3 in March 2015. It features an aluminum space frame, a lightweight carbon fiber shell, a robust V8, and a six-speed sequential racing gearbox. The only thing bigger than its pronounced front splitter is its massive rear wing. It’s the result of millions of dollars and thousands of hours of development and testing.
While attempting to blow through the “Raidillon” curve in the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, the driver of the #89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 loses control of the car and skids right into one of the yellow and red tire walls. They clamp down hard on the brakes, sending up plumes of tire smoke, but it’s not enough to prevent the inevitable.
Carbon fiber slams into rubber with speed and violence. The tires bounce the car backward as it spins. It quickly comes to a rest on the track. The front driver’s side is mangled. What was once a functioning race car looks more like a bug whose carapace has been stomped on and crushed.
During the tense stillness that follows, all of the GT3 car’s speed and exotic materials seem meaningless. Did it protect the driver inside?
Yes. Miraculously, the man behind the wheel is able to walk away from the wreck, which is lifted onto a flatbed truck and driven away. The GT3 may not have been able to finish the race, but it did a great job during a disaster: It gave its driver the chance to compete in his next race.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
