Veteran British ace Nigel Mansell escaped serious injury after crashing out within 20 minutes of his Le Mans debut on Sunday.
British ace escapes serious injury after early Le Mans crash
Veteran British ace Nigel Mansell escaped serious injury after crashing out within 20 minutes of his Le Mans debut on Sunday.
The former Formula One world champion crashed heavily just 17 minutes following the start of the famous endurance race.
His Beechdean Motorsport car appeared to suffer a puncture before hitting the barriers after Mulsanne corner.
The 56-year-old, part of a three-driver line-up at Beechdean alongside his sons Leo and Greg, then remained in his car for several minutes after the accident before being carried into a waiting ambulance.
Good condition
Mansell was taken to the circuit's medical center and escaped "with a bump on the head," according to organizers, who added he was in a good condition.
Peugeot had taken an early lead with its cars holding on the four top positions before the safety car entered the 13.6-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe.
The race was neutralized for about half an hour then Frenchman Franck Montagny moved into first place in a Peugeot 908 HDI when Pedro Lamy pitted for the first time in his Peugeot.
But the French manufacturer's hopes of a clean sweep were dashed when Lamy had to retire because of suspension damage after less than three hours of racing.
Leading
After 47 laps, the Peugeot of Stephane Sarrazin was then leading the race ahead of teammate Anthony Davidson, who set the fastest lap on lap 36, 3 minutes, 21.208 seconds at an average speed of 244.2 kph.
Nicolas Lapierre of France was third in the team Oreca's Peugeot ahead of Audi's Tom Kristensen, the most successful driver at Le Mans with eight wins.
Peugeot is bidding for a second straight victory at Le Mans. The French manufacturer ended Audi's five-year domination at Le Mans last year when it claimed its first win since 1993.
