Drama At Spa, Three Safety Cars In Just Over 60 Minutes

The first two-and-a-half hours of the Total 24 Hours of Spa have been marred by three violent accidents.

On lap 38 Vyacheslav Maleev crashed at the top of the Raidillon, the No. 100 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia slamming the tire barriers and bouncing back onto the track. Maleev got out of the car on his own, but with the Ferrari stopped on the middle of the track and debris scattered all over the place the race director had no other option than to deploy the safety car.

Just after the restart Tim Mullen crashed the No. 101 Von Ryan Racing McLaren MP4-12C GT3 at Blanchimont. No information is available at this moment, other than that Mullen was taken to the medical center.

After 20 minutes behind the safety car the race was restarted, but almost instantly neutralized again when Karim Ojjeh crashed the No. 15 Boutsen Ginion Racing McLaren at the Raidillon, Xavier Maassen spinning the No. 85 HTP Mercedes moments later. Maassen continued, Ojjeh got out of the wrecked McLaren.

As the safety car signs were shown cars braked for La Source, where Jorg Müller in the No. 66 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 ran into the back of the No. 11 Kessel Racing Ferrari.