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UPDATED: Lietz Suffers Broken Arm in VIR Accident

Richard Lietz suffers broken arm in heavy accident at VIR…

Photo: Keith Rizzo

Photo: Keith Rizzo

Richard Lietz has suffered a broken arm following a massive accident in practice for tomorrow’s Oak Tree Grand Prix.

The Porsche factory driver spun off on oil laid down in Turn 1 in the closing stages of the 90-minute session. He was hit by the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen, who also lost control of his GTLM car on the slippery surface.

Lietz was taken to an area hospital where he was diagnosed with a fracture to his left arm. He is scheduled to fly back to his native Austria where he will undergo surgery.

“I had two good laps and everything was normal,” Lietz said. “I came to the corner and the track was wet there. I spun off and hit the tire wall.

“Right after I stopped, the Corvette came and hit me on the driver side. That is what caused the injury.

“The hospital took good care of me here in Danville and now I will fly home and have surgery in Austria. I hope the best for the team and I will be watching closely.”

The car, which appears to have sustained chassis damage to the left side, has remained at the track but is unclear whether it will be able to race.

Porsche has yet to release an official statement on the plan for tomorrow’s race, but it’s understood the team is building up it’s spare chassis in an attempt to potentially race it.

Lietz was due to co-drive with Nick Tandy, while the CORE autosport-run operation has its No. 912 Porsche for Patrick Long and Michael Christensen.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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