A spectacular accident involving GTP drivers Kevin Estre and Jack Aitken ended their podium chances during the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix held on Sunday. With just over ten minutes left in the race, Estre, behind the wheel of the Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, and Aitken, in his Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, were engaged in an intense battle for second place when they collided at the most critical moment of the final exchange.
Both machines made hard contact entering turn 1 and consequently crashed into the barriers, thus ending their races. The crash prompted a yellow flag that froze the standings, leaving Aitken and Estre in eighth and ninth place, respectively, at the end of the race.
Although the results are still provisional, IMSA has announced that it is meticulously reviewing the incident to determine responsibility before validating the final classification.
This accident also significantly changed the podium standings, with Filipe Albuquerque winning the race with his Cadillac from Wayne Taylor Racing. Aitken’s rival, Laurin Heinrich, was promoted to second place after the Aston Martin Valkyrie from the Heart of Racing team received a time penalty.
Drivers’ Opinions
After the incident, Estre explained that the collision was a consequence of intense competition and that he did not attribute blame to a single driver. ‘A DNF for us in the last ten minutes of the race is disappointing, but it’s the game and it happened,’ reflected Estre.
For his part, Aitken was more critical of the driving of the other competitors. He expressed his anger at losing a great opportunity to extend his championship lead, pointing out that the ongoing aggressiveness had gone too far this time.
With only two races remaining in the season, Aitken acknowledges they will need to focus on recovering to face the next challenge, hoping to get closer to victory at the upcoming event in Indianapolis.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
