A three-car crash nearly ended in disaster during the fourth hour of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa race in Belgium on Saturday. A Ferrari was engulfed in flames after other drivers ignored a double yellow caution flag and caused a wild, terrifying wreck.
Fortunately, all of the drivers involved in the incident were confirmed to be okay.
Spa 24 Hours is an endurance race held annually since 1924 at the at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium. Drivers run cars that fall under FIA GT3 and GT3 Cup classifications. They stay on the 7.004-kilometer course for an entire day— a full 24 hours!
It did not take long for this year’s race to get crazy. An incident between Nicolas Baert and Christian Hook left the latter stranded in the middle of the track on a blind hill during the fourth hour.
Multiple cars did not slow down to an adequate speed and narrowly missed the stalled driver. Adrian D’Silva, driving the No. 61 Porsche, continued to race above 200 kilometers per hour and was unable to avoid contact. He tried to swerve out of the way at the last second but failed to do so.
D’Silva clipped the back left corner of Hook’s No. 333 Ferrari and sent him into a tailspin. Unable to regain control, Hook slammed into the wall. His car immediately went up in flames.
Meanwhile, D’Silva slid off into the grass as debris from both cars flew all over the track.
Here is how it looked from the crowd:
#Spa24h pic.twitter.com/sT6VohG2od
— Lucas Adam (winz) (@tw_LucasAdam) June 29, 2024
Neither driver continued with the race, obviously. They were both forced to retire about 20 hours early due to the wreck. Their cars were unable to be salvaged in such a short amount of time, if at all.
Both drivers left under their own power!