On a race restart, the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac got loose out of Turn 1 and spun on its own.
Louis Deletraz slid into the outside Armco barrier before coming across the track before coming to a rest.
Parked awkwardly, several cars piled into the stationary car.
The #73 Pratt Miller entry was the first LMP2 to arrive on the scene followed by the #2 United Autosports and the ##8 Tower Motorsports car.
The crash also claimed the GTD Pro class-leading #48 Paul Miller BMW M4 as well as the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 and the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini Huracan.
Before the crash, Kamui Kobayashi had a blistering stint where he took the car from deep in the GTP field to the lead in 14 minutes.
Patterson’s teammate Nick Boulle, who was driving the #2 at the time of the crash, received medical clearance after the incident.
With more than 16 hours to go in the race, the team indicated it would try to fix the car despite going more than 30 laps down. However, just shy of the nine-hour mark, the team’s retirement was confirmed.
“Rolex 24 driver Nick Boulle has been cleared by the medical team following a multi-car incident after a Safety Car restart in the eighth hour of racing,” the team said in a statement.
“The #2 crew are assessing the damage behind the wall, with more updates to follow.
“But the most important thing is that Nick is okay after a heartbreaking example of wrong place, wrong time.”
Big wreck going into turn 1 after the restart collecting multiple cars in contention!
All drivers have been evaluated and released from the infield care center.
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Patterson wasn’t the only Australian to have dramas in the first third of that race.
The #75 Mercedes-AMG of Kenny Habul was retired after just 150 laps reportedly with a belt-related issue.
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