FIA leads tributes to young Swiss karter Joaquim van Thuyne after Crans-Montana fire
The FIA has paid tribute to Swiss karting prospect Joaquim van Thuyne, confirmed among the victims of the New Year’s Eve bar fire in Crans-Montana that claimed 40 lives and left 119 people injured.
Authorities say the blaze at the Le Constellation bar likely began when sparklers attached to bottles were carried too close to the ceiling. A criminal investigation has been opened against the venue’s owners. The victims ranged from 14 to 39 years old; 15 of those who died were under 18.
Van Thuyne, 18, was regarded as one of the more promising names in the local scene. He raced with the Swiss Hutless Team and had recently chalked up a top-10 finish in the highly competitive X30 Challenge Switzerland — the sort of result that turns heads inside paddock tents even if it doesn’t make headlines beyond them. Away from the track, he played for the FC Lutry junior football team and was with his teammates that night.
In a joint message posted across its channels, the FIA and FIA Karting expressed their condolences and highlighted the teenager’s character as much as his talent, noting his professionalism, kindness and unmistakable passion for the sport. “We join with the global motor sport community in expressing deep sorrow during this difficult time,” the statement read, offering support to his family, friends, teammates and all those affected by the tragedy.
Tributes have poured in from across the racing world. Former F1 driver Jean Alesi, ex-Alpine racer Jack Doohan and former Aston Martin/Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer were among those to add their voices beneath the FIA’s post, which has drawn tens of thousands of responses — a familiar show of solidarity from a community that closes ranks quickly when it loses one of its own.
There’s a quiet reality to grassroots motorsport that isn’t always visible beyond the glare of F1: long drives in vans, family budgets stretched thin, and a paddock that becomes a second home. Van Thuyne was on that road, putting in the laps and earning the respect that matters most in karting — from the people you race, the mechanics who turn the spanners and the officials who see how you carry yourself on a tough day. By all accounts, he carried himself well.
The FIA’s message leaves little doubt about the impression he made in a short time and points to the sharp edge of this loss — not a racer taken by the risks of the sport, but a young life cut short far from a race track. Motorsport has spent decades improving safety where it can control the variables; tragedies like this one, away from the paddock, land with a different kind of weight.
As the investigation in Switzerland continues, the wider racing community will do what it always does in moments like this: remember the person, support the people around him and keep his name in the conversation for the right reasons. For those who knew him, Joaquim van Thuyne was more than lap times and results sheets — he was a teammate, a competitor and a friend. And that’s how he’ll be remembered.
