Stephen Grove believes he was “very lucky” to escape a monster crash at the Gulf 12 Hours with little more than bruising.
The #4 Porsche was leading its class when it snapped sideways due to an apparent ABS issue during the second hour of the Intercontinental GT Challenge finale at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Having set off the incident just with the initial brake application, Grove says he was travelling above 200km/h at the time, before ploughing into an Armco fence on drivers’ left.
Fortunately, he was able to exit the mangled 911 under his own power and will be racing in next month’s 24H Dubai.
“Under brakes, the very initial brake where you apply most of the brake pressure and then bleed off, it was very violent,” he recalled to Speedcafe.
“The car violently turned left and it was just uncontrollable. It turned left and went straight into the barrier.
“It was over 200km/h, probably in the realm of 220 to 230. The straight’s not super wide so the closing speed between it violently veering left and the wall is milliseconds.
“The car’s extensively damaged. To hit a fixed barrier with no tyres or anything to absorb the inertia turns it into a big crash and I haven’t had one that big that I can remember.
“I think I was very lucky. I mean, I pulled up quite sore but I think I was very lucky under the circumstances to come away with only very minor bruising.”
🟡 FCY 🟡
Safety Cars breed Safety Cars… Fortunately Stephen Grove is ok and out of the Porsche.
LIVE 📺 https://t.co/5JmiZZUiX3#IGTC | #Gulf12Hours 🌴 pic.twitter.com/LoCPVO1Dom
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) December 10, 2023
The incident bore similarities to that which Stefano Borghi would experience in another Porsche, which speared into the fence at the Turn 6 braking zone in the eighth hour.
“I’m disappointed to be the latest Porsche to crash in an unexplained way under braking,” said Grove.
“From the evidence at hand and conversing with other Porsche teams, the accident matches up to previous incidents.
“For me, it’s an ABS malfunction that needs to be addressed quite seriously.
“There was another Porsche that experienced – from the vision that I saw – exactly the same failure as I did because the veered in exactly the same way under initial braking and it’s a big concern to me.”
Porsche’s Spokesperson for Sports Communications was unable to be reached by Speedcafe at time of publication.
The 24H Dubai takes place on January 12-14.
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