Crash at Sebring delays night practice

The night practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the American Le Mans Series has been delayed due to a multi-car crash at the hairpin on the Sebring International Raceway. At approximately 8:40pm EST, the incident took place just past the one hour mark.

Three of the cars reported to have stopped on track were Loic Duval in the #3 Audi R18, the #55 JWA Porsche 911 RSR, and the #12 Rebellion Racing Lola Coupe Toyota with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel.

Per the IMSA notes, the Porsche spun in the hairpin and Heidfeld stopped at the exit when the Audi then hit the back of the Lola Coupe. Right after, the #1 Audi of Marcel Fassler came onto the scene and rear-ended Duval. The next Audi to appear was Allan McNish but he was able to pull to the side and avoid further contact. Other competitors who came upon scene were also able to return to the pits unscathed.

At the time of the incident, Duval was the fastest with a time of 1:48.752. Due to the speeds of the Audi R18s, the incident happened quickly, and per the photographers at the scene, the yellow flag was waving to alert incoming traffic.

Once the damaged cars were in pit lane, the green flag signaled the return of on-track action. Unfortunately it did not take long before the next incident, which extended the night practice by 20 minutes after Maxime Jousse hit the wall drivers right in Turn 11 at 8:56pm. The #28 Gulf Racing Middle East Lola Coupe Nissan had front end damage.

Loic Duval off track

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz