Racing driver Alex Areia crashes his Porsche into the STANDS at high speed during practice

Alex Areia was involved in a dramatic accident on Friday that saw his car end up in the stands.

While practicing ahead of this weekend’s Porsche Sprint Challenge in the World Endurance Championship, the driver lost control of his car on a tight corner, which took his car off the road.

It then travelled through the gravel trap and the tire wall, demolishing a fence before bouncing up into the stands.

Thankfully Areia was able to walk away from the incident and no one was hurt, although the car was written off and had to be lifted out by a crane.

Had the crash happened during a competitive race rather than practice, the outcome could have been very different. 

Alex Areia was involved in a dramatic crash on Friday that saw his Porsche 911 GT3 end up in the stands

The incident was captured on video by some fans sat in the stands, who missed the car leaving the track but captured a mangled fence and puff of dust before it appeared stationary around the fourth row of the stand.

One onlooker can be heard saying ‘Oh my god’ at the mangled wreck of a 911 GT3 Cup car. 

Areia explained what had happened after the accident as he tweeted: ‘It was very angry.

The driver walked away from the crash unscathed and later tweeted that he ‘became a passenger’ after losing control

‘I ran out of brakes at the end of the straight, I practically became a passenger.’

‘Luckily there was no one in that area of the bench and I managed to get out of the accident unharmed, thanks to the safety level of that car.’

The crash took place at the Autodrome do Algarve, which hosted Grand Prixes in 2020 and 2021. 

Lewis Hamilton won both, at a track that can host up to 100,000 and saw 27,000 in attendance for the 2020 F1 race.