Motorsport: Reindler lucky to survive horror V8 fireball

Karl Reindler was unaware of how spectacular the Barbagallo crash was until he saw TV footage of the massive fireball. Photo / Getty Images

Fifteen seconds of flame. Karl Reindler's terrifying moments trapped inside a V8 Supercar fireball could have ended as a horror story.

Instead, he sees his escape as a tale of remarkable luck.

Hit from behind at gravity-defying force by another car, so hard his driver's seat snapped in half.

Feeling his face splashed by fuel. Flame and smoke licking at his driver's suit.

Panicking to undo his safety harness. Watching the safety net melt on the window as he fumbles for the door.

He gets out. Burning sensation on his face and hands. He can't see it.

Ethanol - the fuel used by V8s - isn't always visible when it burns in daylight. It is burning on him, around him.

Eventually there's help. There's water. There's pain.

Only when the 26-year-old West Australian sees the television replay - in a Perth hospital hours after the crash - does relief set in as he sees what everyone else has seen.

It could have been so much worse.

Even the Prime Minister, travelling home from the royal wedding, watched on in horror from an Abu Dhabi airline lounge - scarcely able to believe Reindler escaped as his car was incinerated.

"We were in a lounge, turned the TV on, and went 'ohhhh'," said Julia Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson.

"I watch motor sport every week, and it was one of the most unbelievable crashes I have ever seen."

Three weeks after one of the most spectacular accidents in Australian motor racing history, Reindler is back competing against the sport's best.

While his race suit protected him from any body burns, he suffered second and third degree burns to his hands.

There have been skin grafts. There are more to come.

Yet he is nearly able to resume his full fitness regime. His hands are healing beautifully.

If there was ever the ideal place for his V8 Supercar to burst into flames, Reindler's home town of Perth was it.

Among those watching was Dr Fiona Wood.

The Perth-based burns specialist was Australian Of The Year in 2005 for her work with Bali bombing victims.

Reindler, who knows two of Dr Wood's sons through their shared involvement in triathlon, had agreed months before the crash to be part of a fundraising breakfast panel for her charity, the McComb Foundation.

It pioneers research into burns and scarless healing for victims.

The affable Reindler's generosity was rewarded 1000-fold. He found himself with the best possible care to treat his hands.

Five days after the crash, Reindler fulfilled his breakfast engagement as promised - and was able to speak first-hand about Dr Wood's work.

"I was so lucky to have access to her," Reindler said.

"It was incredibly ironic that the accident happened before I was due to speak. I had plenty to talk about and to relate to on the panel."

Reindler was treated using Dr Wood's spray-on skin product and a treatment called Recell, in which his own skin cells were grown during the operation and grafted on to his hands.

He will need to wear a compression bandage on his worst-affected right hand for up to 18 months.

Reindler has been inundated by well-wishers, and been sought out and thrown himself into other charity projects after the accident.

He has teamed up with V8 fanatic Mathieson on the PM's partner's pet charity project, the Australian Men's Shed Association, which encourages men to avoid depression through recreation in the humble shed.

There have been safety improvements in the sport following a post-crash investigation.

More and better-equipped fire marshals will be deployed at all future races.

Reindler believes everyone has learned something from his crash, including him.

Rather than have the accident hold him back or make him fearful, he is adamant the motor racing dream that began as a 14-year-old driving go-karts and through open-wheeler racing in Japan and Europe, will continue at full throttle.

A new car to replace the one destroyed in Perth will be rolled out for the next V8 round in Darwin.

And Reindler keeps reminding himself about the day before the crash when he recorded his best-ever race finish - seventh at Barbagallo Raceway.

In just his second fulltime V8 season, Reindler is confident those heights - and better - are coming.

"In times like this you want to look at the positive things. It is a positive that I am still here," Reindler said.

"Burns take a long time to heal, but technically I don't have any long-term injuries that are going to affect me.

"Considering the burns I had after such a short amount of time, I can't even begin to imagine what the result could have been."

- AAP