A track marshal had a miraculous escape after he was struck in the face by a wheel at a stock car race in front of hundreds of horrified fans.
The volunteer official, in his early 20s, was standing on a bank on a corner of the track at the Formula 2 stock car event at Mendips Raceway in Somerset when it happened.
Race fans watched in horror as two cars travelling in excess of 50mph clipped each other as they approached the corner, shearing the front wheel from one of them and sending it spinning through the air.
The marshal, who was clutching a yellow flag to warn drivers of hazards on the track, appeared to take the blow in the upper chest and chin and was flung 12 feet down the bank into the fence which protects spectators.
As he hit the ground, he slumped face down into the grass, while screaming fans waved at race stewards to get their attention.
Eyewitness Doug Shields, 45, said: "It was awful. The wheel flew through the air in the blink of an eye and the guy had no chance of avoiding it."
Mr Shields, a PR consultant from Yatton, Bristol, added: "The force of the blow took him off his feet and into the fence in front of us. People were screaming, some were in tears.
The announcer at the track in Charterhouse near Cheddar later explained the marshal had suffered "severe winding".
