Alex Rossi's hair-raising close call on the Baja 1000!

Former F1 driver and Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi came close to a catastrophic encounter yesterday while competing in the famous Baja 1000 off-road event.

Filling in his IndyCar off-season with a bit of racing off the beaten tracks, Rossi was running his Honda Ridgeline at full throttle on a stretch of the Baja California desert when he jumped a crest and found himself heading towards a peaceful commuter coming from the opposite direction.

Fortunately, the two vehicles were on separate paths, although still mere inches from each other, with Rossi wiping out the unsuspected Jeep's right-side wing mirror.

Queried on the incident by his Honda Performance Development crew when he reached the stage's service park, Rossi admitted he hadn't even realized it had happened before he was shown a spectator's video on Instagram!

Check out the incredible moment, courtesy of @k_whyle.

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