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Australia

Vanthoor feels "awkward" to win after airborne crash

Laurens Vanthoor says he feels "awkward" to have won the FIA GT World Cup at Macau after his spectacular airborne accident.

Laurens Vanthoor, Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS crash

Laurens Vanthoor, Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS crash

Macau GP

The Audi driver escaped unhurt from a 250km/h smash at Mandarin Bend, having clouted the wall and flipped on the roof seconds after losing the lead to Porsche's Earl Bamber.

The race was immediately red-flagged and, having been earlier delayed because of another crash, it was not restarted.

That means there was a countback on the results to the previous lap – meaning Vanthoor was declared the winner despite his race-ending crash. It was a situation that left him questioning whether he actually really deserved to have won.

“I think if you go back at least two laps or before the crash, I would have at least deserved to win," he said. “I would not say I was going to win, but I would have been in contention for it. Now officially I have won it, but the way I won it is really strange.

“I don’t really know if I deserved it in a way, as I crashed and made a mistake and I am still a winner – which is very awkward. But I don’t really know what to say. It would have been a better show for everybody without the crash and a better victory, but I don’t know what to think about it.”

Speaking about the incident, Vanthoor said it was hard to take in what happened, but said the accident was caused by him clipping the kerb on the inside at Mandarin Bend.

“I was very surprised because we did some restarts before and I was able to keep the gap to Mandarin,” he said. “I was surprised by the speed he [Bamber] was flying by all the sudden, and he could turn in before Mandarin.

"I was trying to commit to it as well before I clipped the kerb on the inside and it sent me to the outside.

“Physically I am okay. It is fine. It is just one of the nastiest corners to do a crash.

"To do half the straight upside down and see the other cars coming is something not really describable. It was a scary memory in my mind. But besides that physically I am okay.”

When asked if he had seen video footage of the crash, Vanthoor said: "No. I probably won't today."

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Edition

Australia