We are seeing the car from right behind in this photo but notice the front end (two wheelarches and roof) seem intact. Fingers crossed for Loic a very impressive driver and person. MS
Holy crap I just saw Marshall's post on FB about this. Why is it always the Audis that get in these horrific crashes? I hope he's ok
Just read a confirmation that he is "ok" and has been talking, no other word of injuries. Incredible testament to the safety of these cars.
here's a screen cap of the fence damage (red flag estimated to continue another 10 minutes or so). big, airborne hit. yikes. amazing he's alive. saw one report that he was unconscious when marshals arrived, so his race is likely over even if they can repair the car (or bring out a spare chassis, which is being rumored). Image Unavailable, Please Login
As noted earlier in this thread, the Audis are built to withstand huge impacts as we've witnessed with the incident with McNish, Rockenfeller and now Duval. It's a shame that the #1 Audi's race weekend (appears) to be finished before it even got started as this is the defending race winner and last years World Championship team. According to the latest report, Audi will have to bring in another chassis from Germany and build up as much of it around the stricken car as it had already passed inspections on Sunday. BHW
I hope he's ok.. Really a hard crash. Here is the vdeo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7brHKZig1g&feature=youtu.be and a link with photos: http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/loic-duval-suffers-horrifying-crash-during-le-mans-practice/
This is a very serious accident...It's been about 3 hours since we last heard an update. All we have is that he was ''conscious and talking''. I hate to be a kill joy here but we had the same reports last year from Allan Simonson and Michael Schumacher . The cockpit is heavily damaged which isn't encouraging me .
as I post that: Audi confirms earlier reports that Loic Duval escaped with two grazes, apparently one on his neck (from belts) and one on his leg That's good news so far!
Audi sent out a tweet a few minutes ago saying Duval is OK except for a few small "grazes" on his skin. it did not say if he has been cleared to drive, and if so what he'll be driving.
Few small grazes = entire arm missing. I kid, I kid. It doesn't rule out concussion though, but I hope he is a-ok!
apparently car #1 is being rebuilt (new tub), and Loic has been cleared to drive. amazing on several levels.
That's great news! Amazing indeed. It's kinda sad though how guys like McNish, Rockenfeller, and now Loic can survive insane crashes but Simonsen died last year. Still, without the massive improvements in safety over the past several years, those guys wouldn't have made it.
A literal translation of the French announcer at the moment he saw the crash: "The number 1 Audi of Loic Duval has been pulverized." (Any corrections would be welcome.) Jacob
Duval is ok but not allowed to drive this weekend by the doctors, a new car is being built and Marc Gene will replace him.
This just arrived from Audi Sport Press. Night shift for Audi at Le Mans Accident of Loïc Duval overshadows first qualifying day Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 will be prepared again from scratch overnight First qualifying stopped early following accidents Numerous incidents and red flags marked the first qualifying day for the Le Mans 24 Hours. After a shortened first qualifying session, Audi Sport Team Joest temporarily maintains grid positions five and six. The third Audi R18 e-tron quattro, following an accident in free practice, was not able to participate in the first qualifying session. Last years winner Loïc Duval lost control of his Audi R18 e-tron quattro in the Porsche Corners at over 270 km/h and hit the track barrier at high speed. Except for abrasions, the Audi driver was not injured. The accident looked horrible, said Chris Reinke, Head of LMP at Audi Sport. It speaks for the safety concept of the Audi R18 and the Le Mans prototypes that Loïc survived the enormous crash nearly uninjured. Were relieved to see that hes well, considering the circumstances. On Wednesday night, Audi Sport Team Joest began preparing a new car in the team garage so it is ready for the second qualifying session at Le Mans on Thursday. Instead of Loïc Duval, who stayed in the hospital overnight under observation, Marc Gené will be starting for Audi. The Spaniard has been part of the Audi Le Mans squad since 2011, completed several track tests with the current Audi R18 e-tron quattro and was originally planned to run in the Le Mans 24 Hours in an LMP2 sports car of the JOTA team. The drivers of car number 1 still have to do their mandatory laps at night on Thursday in order to qualify for the race. The same is true for many other drivers, as the first qualifying session was stopped early after accidents and only 50 minutes of the originally planned two hours were available. Thats why the lap times we saw tonight are not very conclusive, said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. Marcel (Fässler) set a time in free practice that was two seconds below his qualifying time. Our cars arent optimally gripping to the track yet and have more potential than we were able to show today due to the special circumstances. The starting order will no doubt change again tomorrow. But the most important thing for the time being is that Loïc (Duval) is more or less well and can celebrate his 32nd birthday on Thursday. The grid positions for the 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours will be decided on Thursday night from 19.00 to 21.00 and 22.00 to 24.00. Results Qualifying 1 1 Bernhard/Hartley/Webber (Porsche) 3m 23.157s 2 Dumas/Jani/Lieb (Porsche) 3m 23.928s 3 Nakajima/Sarrazin/Wurz (Toyota) 3m 25.313s 4 Buemi/Davidson/Lapierre (Toyota) 3m 25.410s 5 Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) 3m 26.388s 6 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) 3m 26.445s 7 Belicchi/Kraihamer/Leimer (Rebellion-Toyota) 3m 33.117s 8 Beche/Heidfeld/Prost (Rebellion-Toyota) 3m 34.922s 9 Canal/Pla/Rusinov (Morgan-Nissan) 3m 38.843s 10 Chatin/Panciatici/Webb (Alpine-Nissan) 3m 39.490s
