Huge Chaves Crash Interrupts 6H Monza; Penalty for Leader

An enormous accident for TF Sport driver Henrique Chaves brought out the safety car in the 6 Hours of Monza shortly before the halfway point, with the overall lead set to change.

Chaves, driving the No. 33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, appeared to lose control of the car approaching Variante della Roggia, before a hit with a curb sent the car flying through the air, landing on its roof.

It then slid across the track, rolled over again and came to a rest upside down against the barrier. Chaves was able to exit the car unaided and has been taken to the medical center for checks.

The British squad had previously been leading the GTE-Am class before Chaves had to serve a 50-second stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Glickenhaus currently leads overall, but looks set to lose the race lead as it is yet to serve a drive-through penalty for a full course yellow infringement.

At the safety car, Pipo Derani sat at the head of the field aboard the No. 708 Glickenhaus 007 Pipo, but was yet to serve the aforementioned penalty due to the pit lane being closed.

Mike Conway in second aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, looks set to move into the race lead, with the No. 36 Alpine A480 Gibson currently third overall behind Derani and Conway.

The No. 8 Toyota, currently driven by Brendon Hartley, dropped back to fourth place after suffering electrical issues when Sebastien Buemi was at the wheel.

The top five was rounded out by the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 of James Rossiter.

Realteam by WRT’s No. 41 Oreca 07 Gibson led the LMP2 category, currently fighting a tightly contested three-way battle with United Autosports and Prema.

Richard Mille Racing Team’s Charles Milesi had initially captured the class lead early in the second hour, before losing it to Prema’s Louis Deletraz.

United Autosports’ Filipe Albuquerque and WRT’s Ferdinand Habsburg then both passed Milesi, before Albuquerque vaulted to the lead after a round of pit stops.

Habsburg later caught and passed Albuquerque with a move into Variante del Rettifilio, with Prema’s No. 9 car, now driven by Lorenzo Colombo, assuming second during the next round of stops.

By the time the safety car came out, Nicklas Nielsen sat fourth for AF Corse, with Milesi fifth ahead of JOTA’s Jonathan Aberdein.

AF Corse led a GTE-Pro one-two for Ferrari, with Alessandro Pier Guidi out front in the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo ahead of teammate Miguel Molina.

While Pier Guidi led from the start of the race, an initially off-sequence sister car fought its way back towards the front thanks to a strong stint from Antonio Fuoco, who overtook both Porsche’s Kevin Estre and Corvette’s Nick Tandy to move into second place.

When the safety car occurred, the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Estre sat in third, ahead of the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and the No. 91 Porsche.

Following the penalty and subsequent crash for Chaves, Iron Dames’ Rahel Frey led from Dempsey-Proton’ Racing’s No. 77 Porsche and Spirit of Race’s No. 71 Ferrari.