The remains of Manuel Gil del Real’s Porsche 911 after crashing at Laguna Seca. Image: Ryan Wevers via X
China GT made headlines globally, with mainstream outlets including the New York Times, The Guardian and BBC all reporting on the carnage.
We’ve covered those events in detail HERE and HERE, but there were plenty more major moments locally and abroad, including Charles Leclerc’s ugly accident in the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Was this Laguna Seca’s biggest crash ever?
Manuel Gil del Real’s crash at Laguna Seca resembled something straight out of a video game with the way his Porsche 911 shot through a catch fence and tumbled wildly down an embankment.
On the last lap of the opening Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West race, Real approached the infamous Corkscrew at unabated speed.
The car launched into the air, over the tyre barrier and through the catch fence before barrel-rolling down the hill. Real was reportedly conscious before being airlifted to hospital.
Porsche Motorsport North America issued a statement after the incident.
“Driver Manuel Gil Del Real is awake following an on track incident during Saturday morning’s race at Laguna Seca,” the statement read.
“He has been transported to a Salinas hospital and is being evaluated and treated.
Aussies fail to finish Supercup at Monza
There was chaos to begin the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race at Monza, with three incidents in the space of a lap.
The action began at the Variante del Rettifilo chicane when Juan Pablo Vega Dieppa, Matheus Ferreira and Jukka Honkavuori collided.
Australia’s Caleb Sumich was among the casualties on the second lap when wheel-to-wheel contact with a rival spat him off into the gravel trap at the Variante della Roggia chicane.
The Safety Car was called, but the incidents continued. Not fully sighted on the broadcast, Sam Shahin and Andrea Galli collided on the run to the Ascari chicane.
Shahin was none too pleased, gesturing at Galli after the incident.
The race was red-flagged as a result to clean up the mess.
“Plenty for The Bend entry to be proud of despite a horrid end at the last round at Monza,” Shahin wrote on Instagram.
“Reckless driver ignored multiple flag warning signals and multiple Safety Car signals barrels into yours truly at full speed.
“The best one-make series in the world was let down by one of its own today (including the commentator).”
Robot race car rear-ended
In a world dominated by artificial intelligence, it’s hard to imagine race car drivers being replaced by robots soon.
Away from too many prying eyes, the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) marked its first venture outside of Yas Marina.
Five teams took to the track at Imola. Unfortunately for leader Unimore Racing, its car reportedly suffered a hardware failure that caused it to slow.
The second-placed Polimove failed to navigated its way past and slammed into the back of the stationary car.