Blancpain GT: Vanthoor Injured in Heavy Crash

[Chris]

Laurens Vanthoor had his qualifying race in the Blancpain GT Sprint series brought to an early end in what was an hefty accident, and one in which he was lucky to walk away from.

The Belgian driver of the #1 WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra started the race from the pitlane of the Misano Circuit after an engine change. This meant that he would have to do some overtaking if he wanted a decent starting position for this evenings main race.

The incident occurred with 48 minutes remaining when Vanthoor got a vastly superior exit out of turn 6 compared to the #83 Bentley Continental GT3 ahead of him driven by Jules Szymkowiak. The poor exit by the Bentley allowed Vanthoor to get alongside and even mostly ahead of Szymkowiak, when suddenly the pair came together, sending Vanthoor off into the barriers in what was an incredibly heavy impact.

Vanthoor exits his car limping, while aided by the marshals. ​

Vanthoor was able to exit his vehicle, however he looked to be unable to place any weight on his left leg indicating he had inured it. Whether Vanthoor will be cleared as medically fit for this evenings main race is yet to be determined.

 

[Bernd Graf]

OMG not Laurens!!!! Prayers!

 

[Tume]

Damn. Speedy recovery, Laurens...

Also, what's the name of the second commentator? I take it he's the same one I've heard in classic F1 clips..

 

[LukeT222]

Also, what's the name of the second commentator? I take it he's the same one I've heard in classic F1 clips..

John Watson I think

 

[Tume]

John Watson I think

That's it! Thanks.

 

[Cristian Haba]

WHen is the actual race, and does anyone have a stream link to it? @Chris Stacey

 

[Will Mazeo]

WHen is the actual race, and does anyone have a stream link to it? @Chris Stacey

It's over already, you gotta watch the replay

 

[Chris]

WHen is the actual race, and does anyone have a stream link to it? @Chris Stacey

Actually sorry it's just finished

 

[Davy Vandevenne]

 

[Nox]

After watching it several times, I know he got squeezed but there was enough room, on board shows Vanthoor move over to the right, and he was deemed at fault by the stewards too. I think he just thought the Bentley would move over. Huge hit, glad he's okay (relatively speaking). Not the first huge accident in Blancpain in the last couple of years. This was also huge:

 

[Dan Allen]

View attachment 107146

Damn

 

[Jeff]

Hope he recovers fast Laurens is a great driver. I will be at zandvoort this weekend to watch the blancpain series race. Anyone knows if they got a replacement driver or is Robin Frijns going to drive the car on his own ?

 

[Ze German]

Hope he recovers fast Laurens is a great driver. I will be at zandvoort this weekend to watch the blancpain series race. Anyone knows if they got a replacement driver or is Robin Frijns going to drive the car on his own ?

It's not even certain yet if they will start. The whole car including the tub was a write-off and since Audi is launching mass production of the next gen R8 GT3 they probably don't have any old tubs lying around

 

[Jeff]

It's not even certain yet if they will start. The whole car including the tub was a write-off and since Audi is launching mass production of the next gen R8 GT3 they probably don't have any old tubs lying around

thanks would be a bummer if Robin isnt racing this weekend but will see