GT3 driver rolls at Macau but still wins the race

The Macau Grand Prix was cancelled on the fourth lap due to the brutal crash of driver Laurens Vanthoor. Curiously, race direction ruled that the positions up until the accident were valid, which made the Belgian driver the winner in Macau.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il0mLYO0Ojo

The World GT Championship has witnessed one of the most bizarre races anyone can remember. Behind the wheel of an Audi R8, Laurens Vanthoor won for the first time at the Macau circuit in the most unexpected way.

The Belgian driver led the race at the line on the fourth lap, but a lap later Earl Bamber’s Audi overtook him. In trying to regain the position, Vanthoor clipped the kerb at a corner, lost control of his car, hit the wall and flew through the air.

After the incident, the marshals waved the red flag and, since the scheduled race time was exceeded following the accident, the race had to be cancelled. Race direction then decided to count the results up to lap four, that is, before the accident. As a consequence, the driver who had caused the race to be suspended, Laurens Vanthoor, was proclaimed winner of the 63rd Macau Grand Prix.

At the end of the race the Belgian driver wrote the following on his Twitter account:

Don’t know what to write.. I’m ok, just a bit shocked. I guess I won the World Cup but it doesn’t feel like it’s supposed to feel. 1/2

— Laurens Vanthoor (@VanthoorLaurens) November 20, 2016

Translation: “I don’t know what to write. I’m fine, just a bit shocked. I have won the GT World Cup, but I don’t feel the way I should. We were fast and in position to win, but I made a mistake. It’s strange that things turned out like this. I will return to get a proper victory.”

If you win, you get media attention. If you do a big crash you get media attention. If you do both…. : Twitter explosion.

— Laurens Vanthoor (@VanthoorLaurens) November 20, 2016

Translation: “If you win, you get media attention. If you crash badly you get media attention. If you do both…. Twitter explosion.”