October 15, 2013

Sean Edwards 1986-2013

We were shocked to wake up to the news: 26 year old British driver Sean Edwards lost his life in a crash today in Australia.  Edwards was not driving but was in the passenger seat, coaching a local 20 year old when the Porsche 996 left the track at high speed and caught fire.

Edwards was the son of ex Formula One driver Guy Edwards.

2013 had been a great year for Sean, he won the 24 Hour of Dubai for the second time in a row as well as the Nürburgring 24, both with the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS GT3.  He is leading the championship in Porsche Supercup and raced in American Le Mans with team MOMO NGT.  A tin top racing superstar  with an enormously bright future.

Driver coaching is a common practice for professional drivers,  it's an extra form of income and a chance for connections.  Race teams usually hire a pro driver to coach their pay drivers, private individuals can do the same.

Edwards often shared on social media and his last post on Instagram is from four days ago:

"Off to Australia for driver coaching via Dubai with Emirates. Champagne and fresh orange juice to start. They are the best airline by a mile!"




I'm sure there will be plenty of web sites all too happy to post gruesome pictures of the accident, we prefer to show Sean Edwards doing what he did so well.

After, please go read this piece by Chris Harris on Pistonheads



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3 comments:

  1. Alex BeattyTuesday, October 15, 2013 10:33:00 AM

    Thats very nice of you to not show the wreck. So sad to see. RIP

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  2. TristanTuesday, October 15, 2013 11:44:00 AM

    My phone's wake up alarm went off, and this was the very first thing I read this morning. It made me sit up only moments after waking to say "What?!"


    A real tragedy, not unlike Maria. Sean was a true talent who deserved the seats he got, for sure.


    Those of us at Race2Play had the privilege of racing on the same track as Sean during the 2.4 hour of Nurby a few years ago. He won, naturally, blitzing us all with an 8min flat qualifying time on the VLN circuit, using a Ferrari 550 in the sim GTR2. I understand it was only his first or second race in that sim, as well.


    Fortunately for his legacy, he accomplished incredible feats before he was taken from this Earth. When I'm at Nurby next year, I'll be paying him tribute where his name will be forever immortalized, at the Nurburgring pit paddock entrance, where his name will remained embossed for the ages next to Ickx, Stuck, Bell, Lieb and others.


    Thank you for this tribute Axis

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  3. Geran BrownTuesday, October 15, 2013 12:16:00 PM

    Wow! I got chills when I was reading this. A great driver with tons of talent and potential taken way too young.


    At least he was doing what he loved and maybe he lap the best track in the world up there.


    Best tin top racer in my opinion!


    R.I.P and my thoughts are out to his family.

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