Unlike most motorsports, those brave enough to compete in rallies don’t have the added safety net of huge run off areas, making the sport particularly precarious and prone to spectacular crashes.

At last week’s European Rally Championship round in the Canary Islands, driver Tomasz Kasperczyk was extremely lucky not to be involved in one of those spectacular crashes and can thank a sturdy guardrail for it.

Footage from the moment of impact shows Kasperczyk locking up the inside rear wheel while approaching a tight right hand corner. This sends the Ford Fiesta rally car directly into the steel guardrail which lines the precarious mountain road. If it hadn’t been there, Kasperczyk and his co-driver, Damien Syty, would have plummeted down the mountain.

Talk about a heart in your mouth moment!

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