Massive Four-Car Accident at Raidillon Puts Race Under FCY

A massive four-car accident at Raidillon put the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa under a lengthy Full Course Yellow in the opening hour.

The No. 21 Rutonik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Kevin Estre, Davide Rigon’s No. 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 as well as two of the three Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos, driven by Franck Perera and Jack Aitken, were involved in the accident on Lap 10.

All four drivers were taken to the medical center, according to a spokesperson from event organizer SRO Motorsports Group.

The spokesperson confirmed that Estre and Perera have been cleared from the medical center, while Rigon and Aitken have been transported to hospital with “non life-threatening injuries.”

Representatives from Porsche and Ferrari respectively said that Estre and Rigon are “OK.”

A replay of the accident has not been made available although onboard footage from several cars showed the aftermath of multiple cars with severe damage and at least two with smoke visible.

Raffaele Marciello led the early stages from pole position, with the driver of the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo keeping ahead of Mirko Bortolotti on board the No. 63 Orange 1 FFF Racing Team Lamborghini.

David Pittard made a strong getaway from fifth on the grid, advancing his No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 to third on the opening lap.

Pittard then came under pressure from a train of cars led by Mercedes-AMG Team HRT’s Luca Stolz as Marciello and Bortolotti opened up a seven-second gap at the front.

Another hard charger in the opening stanza was Iron Lynx Ferrari driver Alessandro Pier Guidi, who made six positions from his 13th-place starting spot.

After qualifying 54th on the grid due to one driver not setting a time in qualifying, the No. 32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo of Kelvin van der Linde advanced to 44th position past several Pro-Am and Am Cup runners.

However, the South African lost drive exiting La Source, pushing him back down to 52nd and compromising the Audi Sport Team WRT squad’s ambitious recovery task.

The lengthy FCY period prompted several teams to make their first pit stops of the race.