Naperville, IL – Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas is the next stop for Christian Weir in the Toyota GR Cup North America. Rounds 3 & 4 will be held April 26 & 27 at the only purpose built active F1 track in the United States. It also marks the first time Christian will return to a track that the last time he was there; he left with a broken back.
In October of 2021, Christian was competing in the US F4 Championship at COTA alongside Formula 1. It was a hot weekend, but the circuit boosted record attendance of over 400,000 fans. Having just turned 15 years old, thus making him the youngest competitor on the grid, Christian was having an extremely successful weekend. The first race of the event, Christian fought hard and was able to podium with a well-earned 3rd place. “It was so exciting to be able to stand on the same F1 podium as the best drivers in the world.” says Christian. “The atmosphere was amazing. There were so many fans cheering. It is something I will never forget.”
The next day started like any other race day, but as the fans were streaming in by the thousands, it was obvious it was going to be a special experience. “Our race was early because the F1 race was happening in the early afternoon. I was starting 7th on the grid, but I knew from the day before I had the ability to get back on the podium” remembers Weir. “I had a great start, but as I was trying to get around another driver, he repeatedly pushed me off track. We were warned in our drivers meeting that doing this would cause you to get a severe penalty.” It didn’t take long to find out why it wasn’t safe to force another driver off.
Christian had just completed lap 3 and was on the outside of Turn 1 when he was once again forced off. This time there was a sausage kerb in his path. Sausage kerbs are essentially speed bumps used to keep cars within track limits. They ha
d become increasingly unpopular with drivers because they can cause cars to launch up in the air and slam to the ground or into a barrier. Christian suffered 2 broken vertebrae as a result of the 50g impact. “My car went straight up in the air and then landed down hard. It seemed like forever for me to be able to catch my breath and for the emergency crew to get to me. Once I was out of the car, it didn’t take long for the medical team to diagnose me with the compression fractures and get me on my way to the local hospital where I spent the night. I had to wear a back brace for 12 weeks and it was painful. I am doing well now but do still suffer with back pain from time to time.”
Christian received many get well wishes, but the one that stood out the most was an email from Sebastian Vettel. “Seb told me he had been watching my race and he thought I was doing a good job. I learned that immediately after my incident, the F1 drivers demanded the kerb on turn 1 be removed.” A W Series driver had also gone over a different kerb the day before and had the same injury as Weir. Previous years there had seen other drivers all over the world that had similar experiences. Drivers had been increasingly more vocal about having them removed from every circuit. Christian’s incident was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Today there are very few sausage kerbs found anywhere on any track. “I am glad my injury led to safer racing for everyone, but I obviously would have preferred to not have to deal with a lifetime of back issues.” adds Weir.
Not the type to look back, Christian has all eyes looking forward to his return to the famed Circuit of the Americas. Weir finishes by saying “I am not bothered at all about what happened the last time I was there. I feel very confident at that track and the GR Cup cars are a lot of fun to race. There are some very talented drivers this year. That always makes for some very entertaining racing.”
You can catch the GR Cup action at www.grcupseries.com/watch-live
Information about the Autobahn Driver Academy is available at https://autobahncc.com/academy-racing-school/
Keep up to date with Christian Weir by following him on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/christianweirracing/
