The #1 Audi R18 of defending Le Man winner Mike ‘Rocky’ Rockefeller has been involved in a violent shunt with a slower GTE car at the high speed kink between Mulsanne and Indianapolis corner. Audi Sport has confirmed that Rockefeller was able to get out of the car himself that he spoke to the team and has been taken to the hospital.
Rockefeller was overtaking one the AF Corse Ferrari 458s on the straightaway leading up to Indianapolis when the Ferrari inexplicably started to move into the path of the Audi. It appeared Rockefeller was forced off the track onto the curbing and the dirt which spun the Audi violently back to the left, across the track and head-on into the barrier and then was thrown back to the right across the track. The Audi virtually exploded into pieces and was unrecognizable on impact. It was reported by Radio LeMans that the monocoupe tub was intact.
Rockefeller’s teammate Romain Dumas had slammed some of the “gentlemen” drivers earlier in the day after being involved in an incident earlier at Tertre Rouge when he spun off trying to overtake a GTE-Am Porsche. “They are completely crazy and it is very dangerous with them,” he said. Dumas does not believe the speed discrepancy between the LMP1 and GTE cars is the main problem. “It’s fine with the GTE Pro drivers because they know what to do, but the Am drivers don’t,” he added.