n 2013 Sean Edwards was leading the prestigious Porsche Supercup series, with three outright wins over seven rounds, with Team Allyouneed. He also won the 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours, sharing the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Team Black Falcon, with team mates Jeroen Bleekemolen, Nicki Thiim and the veteran Bernd Schneider.
Sean Edwards lost his life on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 morning, being involved in a fiery crash during a private session at Queensland Raceway in Willowbank, west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He was acting as a passenger in a Porsche 996 Supercup car while instructing a 20-year-old driver. The car driven by Will Holzheimer, the son of Dellow Racing owner David Holzheimer, went out of control at Turn 6 of the Willowbank circuit at an estimate speed of 165 km/h (102.5 mi/h). It crashed into a tyre bank and burst into flames. Holzheimer was trapped in the wreckage for almost two hours before being taken to the intensive care unit at the Royal Brisbane Hospital where he was treated for serious injuries and burns. Sean Edwards was killed on impact, he was 26.
In the weeks after the crash, Will Holzheimer underwent several bouts of surgery to treat fractures, facial injuries and to monitor neurological concerns.
Sean Edwards was on his first visit to Australia and had only been in the country a number of hours before the accident happened. He was survived by his parents Guy and Daphne Edwards, and by his girlfriend Laura.
Three years after Sean Edwards' death, the Queensland Deputy State Coroner Mr. John Lock handed down the Coronial Inquest's report into the fatal accident: he ruled out driver or trainer error as possible causes of the crash, and found the brakes of the Porsche 996 GT3 "totally failed" as a result of a mechanical glitch, causing the car to slam into a tyre barrier and concrete wall.
R.I.P