Tomlin escapes blaze with burns to face

David Tomlin sustained facial burns when the cockpit of his Rs500-spec Ford

Sierra Cosworth filled with flames during the Historic Touring Car Challenge race at Thruxton last Saturday.

Tomlin was running a close second to Ric Wood’s Nissan Skyline GT-R when vapour from the Sierra’s bootmounted fuel cell ignited.

Marshals quickly freed him and he was taken to Salisbury Hospital, from where he was released on Monday evening when the swelling had subsided sufficiently.

“My face is burnt within the circle of the [fire resistant] balaclava – it’s red raw,” said Tomlin, who was wearing an open-face helmet. He was to be assessed for possible skin grafts to his nose at a specialist burns unit in Birmingham on Tuesday.

It was the second fire that Tomlin had suffered in five weeks. Last year’s Magny-cours F2 winner extinguished his Motul Rondel M1 at Brands Hatch during the Historic Sports Car Club’s event last month.

He plans to return to racing as soon as possible, with full-face helmet and eyehole balaclava. The Motul is ready to run and his preparation team – which did not build the Sierra – is investigating the fire’s cause.