A huge crash at the 24Hr Nurburgring ended in one driver in contention for the win going to see the stewards while the backmarker he hit was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

‘Grello’, the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R started the race from pole position after Kevin Estre proved unbeatable in qualifying with a time 8:12.741 minutes.

One driver at the stewards, another in hospital

Sharing the car with Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Guven, they dominated the early stages of the race, which was red flagged in the early evening for 2.5hrs due to a power failure at the circuit.

Back underway, ‘Grello’ remained in the fight for the victory with Estre behind the wheel when he tangled with Aston Martin’s Rolf Scheibner as he tried to dive up the inside of the Dörr Aston Martin GT4.

The resulting crash pitched the Aston Martin into a spin, with Scheibner spinning onto the grass verge and into the barrier, which flipped his car into a barrel roll.

Scheibner was able to climb out of his severely damaged car before being taken to hospital for precautionary checks, while Estre, after handing the car over to his team-mate Guven at the end of his stint, was summoned to see the stewards.

That resulted in a 100-second penalty, which should have been served as the car pitted with three hours remaining but was argued by the team.

Peter Dumbreck, a sometimes FIA steward who has started the 24 Hour race 17 times, termed it a racing incident in commentary, but it seems Scheibner’s team doesn’t agree as they confronted Estre on his way to the stewards.

According to initial reports, Scheibner is okay.

Guven subsequently lost the lead to Augusto Farfus in the BMW during the 21st hour of the race.

F1 World Champion Max Verstappen recently weighed in on the safety of the Nurburgring after he put in the laps in a GT3 car under the alias ‘Franz Hermann’.

Speaking to Formule 1 Magazine, he said: “That’s really not going to happen with the Formula 1 cars we have now, I’m afraid.

“With GT3 speed it is okay and still doable. I have seen old footage now and then, also of Formula 1 on the Nordschleife.

“One thing is for sure: F1 there, that will never happen again. Far too dangerous.”

Racing continued despite the crash, the procedure at the Nurburgring to cover an incident with yellow flags and ‘Code 60’ zones, where cars are limited to just 60km/h.

These are often present for extensive periods as officials clear wrecked cars and repair any damage to the barriers.

The 24Hr of Nubrugring uses the 25.378-kilometre variant of the circuit, that incorporates part of the GP-Strecke and the Nordschleife.

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