Video. Red flag in Vila Real after an impressive pileup

Starting from the first row on the starting grid, Rob huff and his teammate Mehdi Bennani (Volkswagen) are doing themselves no favors towards the first turn of the urban route. The two men of Sébastien Loeb Racing got hooked upstream of the first braking, and exploded the safety rail on the left edge of the track.

The vast majority of the peloton was caught in this pileup. The rest of the accident speaks for itself:

The event was instantly interrupted by race management. Mehdi Bennani seems to be the driver most shaken by the crash, an ambulance having been dispatched to the scene to evacuate the Moroccan, who nevertheless got out of the car under his own power.

Returning on foot to the paddock, several drivers explain the spectacular gearing. “I saw Rob climb two meters high, I tried to turn right, I hit Gabriele Tarquini (Hyundai) but I didn't stop, remembers Esteban Guerrieri (Honda).

I was beaten but I was able to escape the carnage. We assume this part of the risk. It's a city race. That's the problem when two cars didn't want to give way, the problem was that they were at the front of the race. »

For Tom Coronel (Honda), this accident reminds him “Martin Brundle’s crash in F1 in Australia (in 1996), where the engine had come out of the car. It was the same thing for Rob Huff's Golf.

The two Volkswagens did not show any respect on the track at the start. I've never seen that in my life. All the pilots were a little panicked. Many cars are damaged and some drivers had to get out of their cars through the rear doors.

The safety rails were torn apart several meters. The race must restart at 19:30 p.m., three hours after the aborted start.