Driver rushed to hospital after crash at track Verstappen called 'too dangerous'
Racing driver Rolf Scheibner was rushed to hospital after suffering a horror crash at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring on Sunday. Scheibner was driving for Aston Martin in the race when he was taken out by Porsche's Kevin Estre.
The race was held at a track that four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has branded 'too dangerous'. The infamous course has seen an estimated 170 deaths from both public and private races since it opened in 1927.
Estre was battling with Raffaele Marciello when he came up behind the slower Scheibner in the section between Kallenhard and Wehrseifen. The Frenchman attempted to pass the Aston Martin.
Neither man gave up the position, with the nose of Estre's vehicle making contact with Scheibner. That turned the Aston sideways, before it ploughed into a barrier, with the force of the collision spinning the car upside down before hurtling back across the track.
It eventually came to a rest on its roof but Scheibner was able to escape from the wrecked car. He was then rushed to hospital for precautionary checks and was thankfully released after getting the all clear from medical professionals.
The Nurburgring has hosted 42 F1 Grand Prix but Verstappen delivered a scathing criticism in which he insisted it would not host any more. He told Formula 1 Magazine: He told Formula 1 Magazine: '(A return) is really not going to happen with the cars we have now. One thing is for sure: F1 there will never happen again. Far too dangerous.'
Estre was handed a 100 second penalty by the stewards for his role in the incident, which ensure he missed out on a win. But the Frenchman insisted he had been left with 'nowhere to go'.
'We were catching some traffic and the car in front of me, the GT4, had three blue flags in a row,' Estre said. 'He left the door open for the triple right. I went inside, there was room and then he turned in and then there was no room anymore.
'I saw him coming, I braked, I was fully on the curb but I had nowhere to go. He had a lot of room on the left obviously he didn't see me or he thought I was further behind, which is sad for him.
'I'm happy that he's fine and this is what we we have to face many times in the race. To be honest if the same situation would have come again, I would have done the same so for me there is nothing that I did [wrong].
Estre also criticised the decision to hand him the large penalty, which dropped him down to second. His team had tried to protest the decision but that was thrown out by the stewards.
'It's a racing incident, of course there's always two to have an incident, but for me, I was inside. They took a decision, we tried to protest but they didn't accept the protest,' said Estre.
'The rest is history, we crossed the finish line first but we had this big penalty and we lost the race. So yeah, it's a sad moment for sure for us. I think we really did a great race. One contact in the race ended up ruining our result.
'Nevertheless, it's a great weekend for Manthey, for Porsche, for my two teammates. They did well. We had a great car [and] we were all the way at the front. We didn't hide and in the end, it was not enough.'
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