American Daly walks away from Monaco GP3 crash

MONACO (AP) -- American driver Conor Daly walked away unharmed from a spectacular crash during a GP3 series race in Monaco on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Lotus driver was coming out of a tunnel near Monaco's harbor when he hit the back of Russian driver Dmitry Suranovic as he tried to pass him.

Suranovic appeared to drift over to the left to block Daly, causing Daly's car to clip the back of Suranovic and send it rearing upward instantly.

Daly's car was almost vertical as it slid before hitting the top of the catch fencing on the left, almost flipping right over. It skidded into the barriers on the other side.

Amazingly, Daly walked away unhurt and no track officials were injured as debris flew around the track.

He played down the crash but was relieved to be safe.

"Thank you (at)GP3-Official for having a safe car. That was definitely the biggest crash I've ever had," he said on his Twitter page.

However, he was furious with Suranovic , blaming him for the incident.

"Hey guys Im ok," Daly added on Twitter. "Car was mega an I was having so much fun. But cant help it when other people do stupid stuff."

Daly acted so coolly after the crash, it seemed nothing had happened. He even remembered to put his steering wheel back into place before jumping out as relieved Lotus officials looked on.

Daly's father, Derek Daly, became an Indianapolis 500 driver in the 1980s after several years driving in Formula One, where he competed in 64 Grand Prix.

Daly's stepfather is Doug Boles, the vice president of communications for Indianapolis Motor Speedway.