Maserati driver suffers spinal injury in crazy GT2 crash

Belgian driver Antoine Potty started the first race of the GT2 European Series at Misano from pole position. In the I4Race Maserati GT2, he went on to lead the race comfortably. However, after around 15 minutes, Potty suffered a technical fault at the wheel of his Maserati before the Tramonto corner and crashed into the barrier at high speed without braking. On impact, the Maserati lifted off the ground, flew over the track barrier and crashed into a wooded area behind the track before coming to a halt on the tyre barrier. The Maserati GT2 was completely destroyed in the accident.

Potty was able to get out of the car unaided but was taken to hospital for further examination.

“A CT scan revealed that I’ve suffered a minor fracture to my T5 vertebra,” Potty said on social media. “I’m okay, but I’ll need a bit of time for it to heal properly.”

In addition, the winners were disqualified on Saturday afternoon. Célia Martin and Luca Pirri had originally won the race in a Maserati from the LP Racing team. Martin, a Frenchwoman living in Adenau, would have celebrated her first victory in her debut race in the series and would have become the first female race winner in the GT2 European Series. However, her Maserati was 13 kilograms underweight.

Topic of the week

From major doubts to a major spectacle: why GP fans have reason to be delighted

Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

Vanessa Georgoulas

Read more

The victory therefore goes to Marius Aigner and Reinhard Kofler in the KTM X-BOW GT2 from MZR Motorsportzentrum Ried. Stefan Rosina and Lorenzo Marcucci took second place in the LP Racing Audi, ahead of Wilhelm Kühne and Moritz Wiskirchen in the SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG GT2.