Yahoo Autos Cadillac Driver Renger van der Zander Walks Away From Massive Crash in 6 Hours of Spa
The centennial anniversary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is only five weeks. The LMDh prototypes will be taking on the French endurance classic for the first time. Last weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa was the final chance for all the top-class teams to put their cars through the crucible of competition before Le Mans. However, one of Cadillac’s cars spectacularly exited the race before the halfway point.
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During the race’s second hour, Renger van der Zande was behind the wheel of the second-place #3 Cadillac V-Series.R. The Cadillac was just ahead of the two Ferrari 499P hypercars as the three cars dove down into Spa-Francorchamps’ legendary Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex. The prototype seemingly bottomed out going through Eau Rouge and van der Zande became a passenger.
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The Cadillac left the racing surface onto the paved run-off and then smashed left-side first into the barriers. The prototype’s left side was completely destroyed with the engine cover ripped off and the cockpit door flung out. Surprisingly, van der Zander walked away from the hellacious wreck. Doctors at the track’s medical center cleared him after precautionary checks.
Massive Crash for the #3 Cadillac I 2023 6 Hours of Spa I RACE I FIA WEC
Van der Zander told Motorsport.com:
“The laps time were really good, we were cruising into the race and making sure we were taking care of the car and everything.”
“But something went wrong in Eau Rouge and that was the end of our day. We’re still investigating to figure out what happened, but I am super lucky to be in a safe Cadillac because that was almost out of a movie scene.”
“Jumping out of that car is a miracle and I’m quite proud that Cadillac builds such strong cars. We’ll bounce back and continue our develop as a team.”
The other Ganassi-run Cadillac finished in fifth place as Toyota took the first and second at the 6 Hours of Spa. Cadillac isn’t exactly sure what caused van der Zander’s sudden loss of control. The crash could’ve been so much worse if it weren’t for the expanded run-off areas added to the Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex last year.
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