An accident at the first VLN race of the season involving the #23 Nissan GT Academy GT-R has caused the 4 hour race to be cancelled roughly halfway through, with reports of injuries to spectators.

It’s not clear at the moment what precipitated the incident, however the GT-R driven by Academy winner Jann Mardenborough appears to have left the road around the Flugplatz section of the circuit and catapulted over the catch-fencing into a spectator area. While the driver himself appears in some images standing outside the vehicle without obvious injury, early reports suggest that the car has struck at least one spectator who it’s reported was pronounced dead at the circuit’s medical centre.

GTPlanet’s thoughts are with the drivers, team and individuals involved, and we’ll update this post with more information as it comes to us.

Update: Multiple sources now report one spectator fatality with an unreported additional number of injuries being treated at the circuit’s medical centre.

Update: The GT-R seems to have suffered a ‘blowover’ accident similar to those of the Mercedes CLR at Le Mans in 1999, with the car becoming airborne on its own as it crested the ridge at Flugplatz.

Update: Nissan has released a statement regarding the crash:

During today’s ‘VLN 1’ race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, a serious incident occurred involving the No.23 Nissan. The car is reported to have left the track at the ‘Flugplatz’ section and vaulted the catch fencing, landing on its roof in a spectator area. Several spectators were injured in the incident and despite immediate efforts one of them succumbed to their injuries. The others have been taken immediately to hospital for care. The driver, Jann Mardenborough got out of the car and, after initial checks in the circuit Medical Centre, has been taken to hospital for further routine checks. Today’s events have been a tragedy. We are all deeply shocked and saddened by these events and our immediate thoughts go to the deceased, those injured and their families and friends. The team is fully co-operating with the race organisers to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident.

Update: VLN has also released a statement, which we’ve translated from the original German below:

In the opening round of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring on Saturday an accident happened in which several spectators were injured. One of these died despite immediate rescue and treatment at the medical centre of the circuit. The other injured spectators were taken for further medical care to the hospital. The race was stopped to allow quick access to the scene of the rescue services and not restarted. In the Flugplatz section a competitor vehicle drove off the track for an as-yet unknown reason and came to rest behind the safety fences at the circuit. The VLN and the organizer of the race are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.

Image credit: Twitter, Alex Garcia @alexgarciaGV27.

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