Eight days after suffering a horrific crash at the Macau Grand Prix, German Formula 3 racer Sophia Floersch announced on Monday that she was flying home.
The 17-year old has been recuperating following an 11-hour surgery last Monday to mend a spinal fracture.
Floersch wrote on Facebook: “Today I am flying back home. I am still overwhelmed by all the support I got from you fans all around the world. I celebrated my second birthday on the 18.11.2018 in Macau.
“Now a new chapter starts and I can’t wait for it to begin — let’s focus on 2019.”
While it’s obvious that she would take some time to get back to racing, her future plans before the crash was to continue in Formula 3.
According to `autosport.com`, before she suffered the crash, it looked like Floersch would be continuing in the outgoing Formula 3 European Championship machinery and that she has no interest in the new women-only W series.
She joined the Euro F3 grid at Zandvoort in July after missing the opening three rounds, and completed the season with Van Amersfoort Racing.
Asked if she would like to join the W series, Floersch had said: “Not at all… I think it’s great that people can see that women need support, but it’s a little bit the wrong approach.
“I want to race against the best in the sport, and the problem is there are not enough women on the same level.
“I am learning more if I drive in F3 — either this car or [the new] International F3 — than in the W Series…”
Meanwhile, a photographer who was inside the Macau Grand Prix bunker has revealed the horrifying scene when Floersch’s Formula 3 car was sent flying towards him.
Christiaan Hart, who is based in Hong Kong, was one of five photographers working in the bunker who captured the 276 kilometres per-hour crash. “It was like a missile coming at us,” Hart was quoted as saying by `givemesport.com`.
“I didn’t see the initial touch, just on camera after reviewing it,” Hart said.
“We were shooting the front cars initially, and then I saw through the camera she was coming out of control towards us.
“I thought she was gonna slide into the barrier and then you see this thing come at you a million miles an hour.
“The next thing you know there’s a loud bang, and we’re all on the ground. We checked if everyone was OK, then got up and checked where car was.
“Everything happened so quick, it was instant. One minute you see the car sliding, the next you see this flash go past you, then the sound and there’s no time to think.”
The car finally came to rest against an Armco Barrier, before Hart surveyed the scene.
