Chaos on Lap 1

Chaos seconds into inaugural Le Mans race 

The Le Mans series kicked off to a nasty start this morning as the green flag dropped. A multi-car pile-up followed only seconds later as the "Safety Car" (the equivalent to NASCAR's pace car) made a grave error in judgment. The start/finish line of the track at La Castelette, where the 6-hour inaugural race was held, is on a slight hill. The grade of the hill was just enough that the GT3 pack, about mid-way down the line-up, could only see the green lights. Typically, when the lights go green the cars ahead gun it and clear the way. Unfortunately this morning the safety-car did not remove itself from the track and caused the front cars to not Go. The GT3 pack opened the throttles and quickly found resistance causing a mass bunching of cars.

Cheers to millions of dollars of damage caused by just a single error in judgement. Guess who won't be driving the safety car anymore...

-D-
[Jalopnik]