Matthew Payne has suggested contact may have been a contributing factor to his crash in this year’s 24 Hours of Spa.
The Earl Bamber Motorsport driver was at the wheel of the #16 Porsche 911 GT3 R when he crashed at Blanchimont in the 10th hour of the race.
“Unfortunately I had quite a large crash at Blanchimont early this morning around 2:30am,” Payne said.
“We suffered some contact a few corners before which may have contributed to what was the outcome.
“I was released from hospital this [Sunday] morning.
“I can’t thank the guys and girls from Earl Bamber Motorsport, the Grove Racing family of Brenton, Stephen, Tanya, and my personal crew enough.
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“I am really sorry for the end result as at the time our pace was very strong and we were having a great time.
“Big thanks to the medical crew, the track team for looking after me, Porsche for making a very safe car and Bell Helmets for keeping me safe.
“On to the next one.”
Replay of the incident. Looks horrible. But again, driver thankfully OK 🙏
Brilliantly quick reaction from the marshals. Much love to the Orange Army out there! 🧡#Spa24h 🇧🇪🎢 #FanatecGT #GTWorldChEu #IGTC @Pirelli @AWS @CrowdStrike @fanatec @TotalEnergies pic.twitter.com/z1m25fxEqq
— TotalEnergies 24Hours of Spa (@24HoursofSpa) July 31, 2022
The New Zealander had a difficult lead-up to the Race, spinning while exiting Les Combes in the Pre-Qualifying session.
Despite this, he took the challenges of the weekend, in his stride.
“One of the most challenging things I have done having to qualify at night,” Payne remarked.
“This place is crazy, one of my favourite tracks.”
A front-runner in the Dunlop Super2 Series, he is likely to become one of Grove Racing’s full-time drivers in the Repco Supercars Championship next year.
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