A heavy crash ended the 24 Hours of Zolder early, with NGT Racing declared the winner
The race was stopped early, and the most important news is that no one was seriously hurt.
The 48th 24 Hours of Zolder was brought to an early end on Sunday when a heavy crash at the Lucien Bianchi corner forced organisers to show the red flag with roughly 30 minutes still to run. A driver and a track marshal were injured in the incident and taken away by the circuit's ambulance. According to reports from the scene, neither was in life-threatening danger. With the race unable to resume safely, NGT Racing was confirmed as the winner.
The crash
The incident happened as the One Life Projects BMW M240i and the number 99 Belgium Racing Porsche came together entering the Lucien Bianchi corner. The BMW was launched across the gravel trap and into the tyre barriers. Marshals and medical crews responded quickly, and the race was stopped, with the field brought to a halt and lined up on the start-finish straight while race control assessed the situation. The driver of the BMW and a track marshal were both hurt and treated at the circuit. Reports indicate that neither injury was life-threatening, which, after an impact of that severity, is the outcome that matters most.
How the race was won
With the race called at that point, NGT Racing took its fourth victory in the great Belgian enduro. The winning Porsche 911 GT3 Cup was shared by a notably strong line-up of Laurens Vanthoor, Tom Van Rompuy, Jonny Edgar, Glenn Van Parijs and Bertrand Baguette, a crew that worked its way to the front through the night and controlled the race from there. ART Racing finished second, also in a 911 GT3 Cup, with the Belgium Racing number 99 completing the podium in third, despite its own involvement in the late incident.
From pole to an early exit
The result was a bitter one for the team that had started from the front. Ajith-RedAnt Racing, which took a commanding pole through Dylan Pereira in Superpole, saw its race unravel almost immediately, with the number 1 Porsche suffering an engine failure shortly after the start and retiring long before the flag. It is a reminder of how little a strong qualifying guarantees over 24 hours.
No 24 Hours for the celebrity Mazda
There was disappointment too for one of the weekend's feel-good entries. The Team Longin by MSTC Mazda MX-5, the celebrity project we covered earlier this summer, was shared by Bert Longin, Alain De Jong and Robbe Janssens alongside three well-known Flemish faces in cyclocross world champion Niels Albert, Junior Planckaert and sports presenter Ruben Van Gucht. It was ruled out after the little roadster was damaged, denying the crew the 24 hours they had been building towards, and a reminder that Zolder is as hard on the fun stories as it is on the serious ones.
AutoNext Take
NGT Racing deserves its win, and a driver squad of that quality controlling a 24-hour race through the night is a genuine achievement. But this is not a weekend that will be remembered for the result. It will be remembered for the crash, and for the relief that a serious accident did not become a tragedy.
It is worth pausing on the marshal. Endurance racing asks volunteers to stand for hours, often through the night, close to fast-moving cars so that the rest of us can watch and the drivers can race, and one of them was hurt doing exactly that. We wish both the driver and the marshal a full and quick recovery. The racing will always be there next year. Everyone walking away from it is the only result that truly counts.
