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China GT, which nearly caused a fatal accident, has lost face to the whole world this time.
On September 5, at the Shanghai International Circuit. During lap 7 of the main race, cars #37 and #33 went off-track while battling and hit the side fuel tank of car #91. Car #91 instantly turned into a fireball, lost control and crashed into the guardrail. British driver Milroy was trapped in the burning cockpit.
Between life and death, the first one to rush forward was car #79 driver Hartog, who was competing.
He abandoned his race and stopped the car, ran toward the fire scene, took the fire extinguisher handed over by the staff to suppress the flames, and dragged Milroy out by hand. The whole process was fully recorded by the onboard camera, reviewed frame by frame by overseas professional racing media such as Motorsport.com, and spread throughout the global racing community.
Ultimately, the drivers were sent to the hospital alive, but the reason this incident is embarrassing is precisely because of a huge contrast throughout the process:On one side, the drivers stepped forward, risking their lives to save people; on the other side, the event rescue appeared extremely unprofessional, not only was the rescue speed very slow, but some people couldn't even open the fire extinguisher...
Some netizens revealed that the race officials' rescue personnel were actually outsourced daily-paid temporary workers. Other netizens expressed understanding; considering the daily-pay nature, it was already commendable that the uncle dared to walk to the accident scene.It was already praiseworthy..
Daniel Wu, who competed in the same race, rarely got angry after the event, pointing his finger directly at the race organizers.
Regardless of whether the rescue personnel were temporary workers, the dignity of this top-tier event was completely stripped bare.
01
The Hottest Event Abruptly Ended
China GT's current hot situation is really hard-earned.
In 2016, it started at the Beijing Jinggong International Circuit. At that time, there were only dozens of racing cars, two groups, covering a few stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Zhuhai.
The organizer wanted to make it the benchmark of China's GT, but racing was too far from ordinary people, the stands were empty for years, and most people had never even heard of it.
Why can't it catch on?
In short, GT events are naturally unfriendly to the general public.Multiple groups race together; the first one to cross the finish line is the champion, and the 15th one could also be the champion; several drivers share one car, waiting for Wang Yibo in front of the screen, and he might pit and get replaced. Tire degradation, pit strategy, group attacks and defenses—these "soft techniques" build high thresholds that block most passersby.
For a long time, China GT was trapped in the small circle of hardcore racing fans. According to media reports, even last year, an event only had thousands of spectators.
The turning point came in 2025. The F1 Shanghai round was explosively popular, pushing a huge wave of people who never watched racing into the racetrack. China GT seized this traffic; according to media reports, last season's annual live viewing reached 69.58 million. It was also this year that China GT was upgraded from a "Championship" to a National-Level GT Circuit Championship, with more professional teams and manufacturers starting to enter.
Wang Yibo's involvement further pushed the heat to the ceiling.
In March 2026, he confirmed his participation, registered as a formal driver for the event, and ran from the AM group to the AM+ group, which is the top group for amateur drivers.Overwhelming traffic immediately converted into cold hard cash: Tickets for the Shanghai round sold out 45 days in advance, and presale tickets for the Zhuhai round were snatched up in half an hour of release.
In March, Xiaomi signed the first full-season total sponsorship in the event's ten-year history; SU7 Ultra served as the official safety car, and YU7 served as the official medical car. In April's season opener, Lei Jun personally went to the Shanghai International Circuit to wave the flag for the main race. Red Bull, HELLY HANSEN, UNDEFEATED and other international brands entered successively, the calendar expanded from 4 stops to 5 stops, and went overseas, adding a stop in Malaysia Sepang.
China GT turned over completely and became immensely popular.
That season opener had 57 racing cars, 108 drivers, and nearly 50,000 tickets sold out entirely, with over 40,000 spectators squeezing into the stands and over 66 million people watching online.
The Shanghai round on September 5 was the climax of all this. Three days before the race, the pit lane entered preparation status: the roar of engine testing rose and fell everywhere, technicians bent over adjusting suspensions, and stared at screens verifying data. When the main race day arrived, 59 racing cars and over 100 drivers competed on the field, with GT3, GTS, and GTC major groups competing together—GT3 group had 32 cars, with Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, and BMW six major brands all present, setting a new record for domestic participation scale.
But no one expected that the blazingly hot scene would abruptly end on lap 7.
In the live broadcast screen, thick smoke rose to the sky; the stands that had just been boiling quieted down within seconds. The race was subsequently called off, and this year's finale was suddenly paused in the firelight.
Just moments ago celebrating, now must face a problem: if something really happens, who will rescue?
02
Why Was the Driver Saving People in the Sea of Fire?
When nothing happens, everyone is happy. When something really happens, it's the time to test the value.
First, let's carefully restore the scene of saving people.
In the onboard footage, car #79 braked steadily into the runoff area. Hartog unclipped his seatbelt, rushed out of the car, and ran toward the burning fireball. The fire on the driver's side was too intense, so he went around to the other side, took a fire extinguisher from the hands of arriving staff, suppressed the fire around the car body, and then reached into the cockpit, grabbed Milroy, and dragged him out.
According to calculations by multiple media reports,from the moment Hartog left his car to saving the person, it took about 49 seconds.
Milroy broke 5 ribs, fractured collarbone and fingers, and had lung contusions; he has almost no memory of the 30 seconds before the crash to 1 hour after. Lying in the hospital, he said: "Tonight I can still be alive, completely thanks to one person."
Later he wrote again: "Rock Hartog stopped the car immediately upon seeing no rescue personnel, and risked his life to save me from the car... One day, I will tell this story to our three children. In their eyes, Rock will also be the greatest super hero in history. Thank you, Rock. I owe you my life."
Facing a flood of praise, Hartog was very calm: "I just happened to be at that time and place."
However,the more sincere they were with each other, the more awkward it made the event organizers look.
After the accident, there were only three staff on site: one Matthew waving double yellow flags, another two looking like security guards, with no formal rescue forces.
Even more magical was that a staff member picked up the fire extinguisher, turned around, and ran away from the scene; a security uncle couldn't pull the safety pin of the fire extinguisher for dozens of seconds; car #33 driver Yang Baijie publicly revealed that rescue personnel put down the fire extinguisher out of fear, and the ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later.
On the rescue car that arrived belatedly, the rescue personnel who got off didn't wear standard fireproof suits, but still marched forward with fire extinguishers in hand.
Even information release was messy, such as the broadcast once announcing "the driver left the car by himself", but Milroy was clearly dragged out by Hartog at the risk of his life.
On one side, drivers abandoned their race to save people; on the other side, rescue forces were collectively absent; this is obviously not the level of a professional event.
What should a professional event look like?
According to public reports, at the 2020 F1 Bahrain round, Grosjean's car also hit the wall and caught fire: about 10 seconds, track personnel started to extinguish the fire; 28 seconds, the person was rescued from the fire; ambulance arrived at the scene within 1 minute.
So no wonder professionals were extremely dissatisfied with the handling of this accident.
On September 7, Daniel Wu posted a video angrily criticizing:"This is simply shameful, truly shameful."
The team Milroy belonged to announced withdrawing from all future China GT events until the organizing committee completes a complete, independent, and public investigation. Car #33 driver Yang Baijie announced withdrawing permanently.
03
Traffic is the Accelerator, Professionalism is the Brake
China GT lacks no money, which is why many people find it hard to understand why its rescue forces looked so unprofessional this time.
GT events are fundamentally a "rich people" game. A GT3 racing car costs 3 million to 5 million yuan to buy, plus operations, often tens of millions. Those paying are mostly "gentleman drivers" spending their own money—the event divides drivers into PRO, AM, and AM+ groups. Except for the PRO group making a living by skills, the rest are amateur players buying seats and licenses with money.
This model determines that China GT never makes a living from spectator tickets.The rich pay money, manufacturers provide cars, and celebrities bring traffic; money has never been a problem.
In 2026, the flow of money is even faster. In one season, Xiaomi provided all sponsorship, safety car, medical car, and promotional volume.
The event got hot, and peripherals also made money: According to media reports, during the April Shanghai round, the Jiading Wanda Plaza, which was right next to the racetrack, saw traffic reach 70,100 people, with sales of about 3.95 million yuan. Lisheng Sports, operating China GT, also achieved a new high in non-recurring net profit for the first half of the year.
But explosive traffic also brought controversies as usual.
According to media reports, after Wang Yibo's participation, venue security was upgraded and badges tightened; some drivers used to the old ecology openly complained that a certain celebrity "ruined the racing circle".
Then camethis accident, which really hit the true blind spot of this traffic strategy.
All the money was spent in visible places—sponsorship, celebrities, carnivals, backdrops; the places where money should be spent most—rescue drills, personnel training, command coordination, information verification, seemed to become the most money-saving links.
The day after the accident, the organizing committee issued a situation explanation, apologized to Milroy, and thanked Hartog. But the sentence that followed completely exploded public opinion:"After preliminary verification, the event configuration meets the national-level event configuration, but needs improvement in detailed management."
If the configuration meets national-level standards, why was the driver saving people? Why did the ambulance arrive 15 minutes late? Why couldn't the security guard pull the safety pin on the fire extinguisher?
Describing a systemic failure as "detailed management needs improvement" is somewhat too lenient on oneself.
If professional attitude and professional capability are not improved, it won't just be a certain driver who leaves, the trust the entire industry just built will also collapse.
Chinese racing finally gained momentum. Geely, Chery, Great Wall all joined, domestic brands built performance cars, chased racing culture, young people squeezed into tracks. China GT should have been the big brother, but at the place where it shouldn't have dropped the chain, it fell hard.
This big fire deserves a truly public review, letting the public see things beyond the "configuration table".
The prerequisite for enjoying speed and passion should be ultimate safety assurance.
