An amateur Russian drift-car racer narrowly escaped injury when his car burned to the frame at the National Indoor Sports Arena in Pattaya.
Firefighters were called to the stadium on Soi Chaiyapruek 2 Sept. 1 where Mikhail Oleinikov, 27, had been skidding and sliding in a drift-driving practice session.
They took about 40 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which completely destroyed the race car.
Oleinikov told authorities through a translator he is an amateur drift car driver in Russia and came to practice drifting at the indoor stadium every day.
Before the car caught fire, he drifted about two rounds and felt the heat coming from the rear of the car. He stopped to check and discovered that the car had already caught fire.
Damage was estimated at more than 1 million baht.
Russian amateur drift racer Mikhail Oleinikov managed to escape his burning car relatively unscathed, but the car was a total loss.
