During the Sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, a horrible crash took place which involved multiple cars. While Austria witnessed a Grand Prix, the spectators of the FRECA race which is a support race for the 24 hours of Spa round of the GT World Endurance Challenge witnessed a tragedy. The drivers had been driving at the Spa Francorchamps when a crash involving three cars took place. One of the drivers in the crash, Dilano van ‘t Hoff, ended up dying in the crash.
Dilano van ‘t Hoff was a Formula 4 driver for the MP Motorsport team. He had been driving for them for two years. As a Formula 4 driver, he finished in second place in the UAE series and won the championship during the Spanish race. He had also been driving for two whole seasons of the 24 Hours in Spa races. He had finished on the podium by claiming the third position in his first season of the Spa race. During the second race is when the actual disaster would take place.
How did Dilano van’ t Hoff crash?
Many are already aware of the Kemmel Straight that comes right after the Raidillon. And is also aware of its dangers. This had not been the first time that there has been a serious crash in that corner of the race track. During the second race in Spa, the race had been restarted because of the wet conditions.
The drivers had taken their mark and had been racing. Kemmel Straight had become a high-speed section during the race. The race went on and as it reached the 8th round after the safety car lap, which would be the last lap of the race, the rain had intensified.
Drivers started losing sight of what was in front of them. Antonelli had been leading the race by this time with Tim Tramnitz right behind him. With the rain intensifying, the red flag had been waved indicating everyone to enter the pitlane and pit out of the race.
They had reached the end of Raidillon and the start of the Kemmel Straight when Tramnitz lost control of his car, Tatuus Renault FR-19. He drove out of the race track and into the gravel. He had gone from his 2nd position to P21 which would be right in front of Dilano van ‘t Hoff.
Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s last moments
Dilano who had been driving 10 seconds behind Antonelli, the leader of the race with Fitzgerald 3 second behind him. They were at the speed of 170MPH at that moment, when somedebris was seen flying towards Dilano. He had been driving in the middle of the track.
Video if the crash that killed Dilano van’t Hoff on 18 years old at the #FormulaRegional #race at #Spa–#Francorchamps today. pic.twitter.com/zbntdVGJog
— CrazyFuckingVideos (@CrazyFuckingVid) July 1, 2023
That’s when he lost control, the heavy rain doing him no favors and blinding him further with Fitzgerald coming at high speed. He crashed harshly into Dilano’s car which had tilted to the side as he was unable to control it. Fitzgerald had crashed into the side of Dilano’s car which such high speed, which caused a high impact. Fitzgerald’s car bounced in the opposite direction of Dilano’s.
The impact of the crash had been so high that the livery had scrapped off of Dilano’s car. The wheels of the car had already given out as they followed the car. Dilano’s car crashed into the wall and the car completely tore off. The halo had come off as the livery tore and went flying. While the cars in the front, unaware of the tragic accident that had taken place behind them, drove into the pitlane as the red flag waved.
Dilano and Fitzgerald were rushed for medical aid for their critical condition. As Fitzgerald was said to be in stable condition with broken bones, the sad news of Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s passing away was announced. He had died on impact and from the injuries caused by the crash. Since then, all the Formula 1 drivers have expressed their condolences toward Dilano van ‘t Hoff and his family.
Not too long ago, Spa had seen a crash similar to Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s crash and had also witnessed the death of Anthoine Hubert.
Similarities between Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van ‘t Hoff’s crash
During the race at Spa Francorchamps in 2019, Anthoine Hubert met with an ugly crash at the same corner, on the same track, and at the same location. Anthoine Hubert had been driving in 12th position when Alesi a Trident driver had lost control of his car down the Raidillon and into Kemmel Straight.
He crashed into the right wall tearing off his rear wing. This caused debris to fly onto the tracks. Boschung, another Trident driver who had been driving behind Alesi, wanted to avoid the debris falling on him. Therefore, he drove to the left side going into the run-off.
BREAKING: Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert killed in major crash at the Belgian Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/aLWaZaMIMF
— BNO News (@BNONews) August 31, 2019
Hubert who had been right behind Boschung, could not see where the driver had been and also swerved to the left of the track. This made Hubert crash into the Trident driver and chip off his rear wing with his front wing. That is when Hubert lost control of his car just as Dilano had at the Kemmel Straight.
Hubert’s car crashed into the tire barrier. Correa, who had been right behind Hubert driving at 135MPH, got caught in the debris on the track and crashed straight into Hubert who had been pushed into Correa’s way. The crash had been exactly like Dilano’s. Hubert had spun when Correa crashed into the side of his car causing a T-shaped collision.
The impact had been so harsh and with such high speed that both the cars had been torn apart into two halves. Correa’s car had turned upside down with the other half of his car behind him. Hubert’s car had been cut in half. They were rushed into critical medical aid, and after 90 minutes of the crash, Anthoine Hubert had been pronounced dead.