China GT crash: Driver Ollie Millropy says Loek Hartog saved his life in car fire

“I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and one hour after it, but I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life,” Millroy said.

“One day I will tell our three kids this story and Loek will be the biggest superhero in history in their eyes too.”

Millroy said he suffered five broken ribs, a broken collar bone, broken hand, broken finger and bruised lung in the crash, adding: “It could have been much worse.”

“Thank you Loek. I owe you my life for your selfless act.”

Replying to the post, Hartog said: “I am so thankful to have been right at the place I needed to be in space and time.”

He later wrote in his own post on Instagram: “When I saw a car turning into a huge fireball far ahead, there wasn’t really a decision to make.

“From what I had seen, I genuinely believed the driver might not be able to get out by himself. I stopped, got out and went towards the car. There was never a moment of doubt.

“It was scary. There were moments where I didn’t know I would actually be able to get Ollie out.

“But this isn’t about what I did, and I’m sure many people in the same position would have reacted exactly the same way.”

AAI Motorsport said Millroy’s car “continued to burn for more than a minute” after the accident and that “no timely and effective firefighting and rescue operations were seen”.

It said: “What might have happened if that driver hadn’t stepped up today?

“We accept the inherent dangers of motorsports, but we absolutely cannot accept a driver being exposed to avoidable death.”