Tony Kanaan in Indy Inferno

Thesun.co.uk: This is the terrifying moment when Indycar star Tony Kanaan was nearly fried alive in his cockpit.

Kanaan and his car were sprayed with fuel when a pit stop went disastrously wrong.

The hot motor ignited the ethanol/petrol mixture.

As Kanaan pulled away from his pit, he left a spectacular blazing trail. And more flames erupted in his cockpit, leaping up around his steering wheel from the floor of the Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda.

Kanaan came to a halt, engulfed by fire.

He closed his eyes so they would not be burned, held his breath to avoid inhalation damage to his lungs - and desperately attempted to unfasten his seat belts so he could leap out.

Pit crew members of the rival Penske, Chip Ganassi and Panther teams rushed to help, showering him with water and tugging the "blind" driver free.

NEEDING HELP ... Kanaan's car is engulfed in flames

NEEDING HELP ... Kanaan's car is engulfed in flames

He managed to struggle to the pit wall, where he sat looking shocked before being taken to the medical centre at Canada's Edmonton circuit.

Amazingly, Kanaan escaped with second degree burns to his hands and minor facial burns.

But he returned to the pits before the end of the race - and even managed a joke, saying: "I wanted to set the world on fire today but not in this way."

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