Sports

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Driver David Schumacher Breaks Spine In Fiery Race Crash

Twitter/Screenshot/PorscheRaces

Devan Bugbee Contributor
Font Size:

A fiery crash involving several cars at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) in Hockenheim, Germany last Saturday left driver David Schumacher, nephew of iconic Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, with a fractured vertebra.

Schumacher’s father, former Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher, revealed Wednesday that his son suffered a fractured lumbar vertebra, according to Motorsport. Schumacher will not require surgery but will need to wear a brace for the next few weeks, the outlet noted.

“According to the doctors treating David, that means a break of around six weeks,” Ralf Schumacher told the German news agency dpa, according to the outlet.

“We wish him a speedy recovery & all the best!,” DTM tweeted.

Schumacher suffered the injury during the safety restart lap as he competed with Austrian driver Thomas Preining for the seventh-place spot, Motorsport reported. Norwegian driver Dennis Olsen also crashed, with his car temporarily catching fire, the New York Post reported. (RELATED: Desert Kingdom Will Host Winter Sports Event)


Before the crash, Schumacher and Preining were neck-in-neck when they both veered off the track, a video of the incident shows. A few seconds later, Olsen came spinning into the frame before his car smashed into an in-track guardrail and temporarily left a trail of flames. Olsen shot across the track, bringing other vehicles into the fiery crash scene.