NLS 24h Qualifiers Race one red-flagged due to massive accident

Credit: Luna Maas

Race one of the NLS 24h Qualifiers has been ''suspended until further notice'' by the race officials due to a horrific seven car pile-up early on.

Around 25 minutes into the race, with the No.23 Gamota Racing BMW having retained the lead, a red-flag was shown and nearly every car made it back into the pits. Initially there was confusion as the No.36 Saugmotoren Motorsport BMW was stranded at the exit of Turn one and many thought that this was the cause for the race suspension.

Shortly thereafter though it became apparent that there was a much more serious reason for it, as a massive seven car accident had occured at the Klostertal Steilstrecke, just before the famous Caracciola-Karoussel corner.

The accident is suspected to have been caused by and oil/fluids being spilled onto the track by another car and as such, seven of them crashed and others were left stopped on the racetrack, unable to get back into the pits.

Following the incident, several ambulances were dispatched to the accident site, which made an interruption inevitable. A medical helicopter also appears to have been deployed.

The official statement from the Race control contains the following:

"A total of seven vehicles were involved in the multi-vehicle collision in the Klostertal area. Those affected are car numbers #27 Wahl / Rönnefarth / Dumarey / Böckmann (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3), #111 Becker / Spölgen (BMW 325i (e90)), #121 Miettinen / Berghult (BMW 325i (e90)), #410 Croci / Larbi / Ackermann / Le Bihan (Porsche Cayman GTS), #448 Klinkmüller / Beckwermert (Porsche Cayman CM12), #503 Tamm / Egger / Hökfelt (Toyota Supra) and #992 Griesemann / Griesemann / Adorf / Holzer (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Manthey (992.1)) Rescue operations for several injured drivers are currently in full swing. We will provide further updates from Race Control as soon as more information becomes available."

*Update: Race control has informed that ''Further information will follow shortly after 8 pm.(CEST)''