Defending Hypercar class champion Lopez was trying to lap the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche of Julien Andlauer during the race’s fourth hour when they made contact, sending the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID into the barriers at Turn 9.
Lopez was able to return to the track on his own power and tried to limp back to the pits in his damaged car, but suffered a second crash later in the lap at Turn 15 and ended up upside down after a violent hit with the tyre barrier.
The Argentinian successfully emerged from the car on his own accord and was cleared by the doctors following a brief trip to the medical centre, but the race had to be red-flagged for over 30 minutes to allow marshals to repair the barriers.
It initially appeared that the second incident may have been caused by a technical issue, with smoke visibly coming out of the left-hand of the Toyota, but Lopez admitted that he simply “misjudged” his speed in a bid to lose as little time as possible in returning to the pits.
“I’m good,”…
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