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Hockenheim DTM race red-flagged after scary crashes

The opening race of the Hockenheim DTM finale has been red-flagged following a spate of high-speed crashes on the restart, including a fireball moment for Dennis Olsen’s Porsche.

Watch: Round 8: Hockenheim - Race 1: Chaotic start

After the race resumed on lap six following a long safety car, Thomas Preining and David Schumacher were battling for position when they made contact before braking for Turn 8, their cars veering into the barriers on the right-hand side before bouncing back on track.

This created a bottleneck and led to Abt Audi driver Ricardo Feller running into the back of Dennis Olsen's SSR Porsche under braking and sending the Norwegian straight into the barrier on the left-hand side of the track.

Such was the intensity of the impact that several engine compliments got thrown out of his car, which immediately caught fire.

The Team Bernhard Porsche of title contender Preining and the Winward Mercedes of Schumacher also picked up heavy damage during the pile up.

All drivers were able to escape from their cars, but some have been sent to the medical centre for check-ups.

The race was red flagged immediately, with all cars returning to the pitlane. It resumed at 2:25pm local time (1:25pm BST) after one lap behind the safety car.

Prior to the Turn 6 chaos, multiple cars were involved in an incident earlier in the lap that was triggered by Philipp Eng and Nico Muller coming to blows at the opening right-hander.

The aftermath of their incident caught out several drivers including Grasser Racing Lamborghini duo Clemens Schmid and Rolf Ineichen, with the latter then tagging the Attempto Audi of Mariuz Zug as they both crashed into the wall.

Rolf Ineichen, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan EVO GT3, Marius Zug, Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, crash

Rolf Ineichen, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan EVO GT3, Marius Zug, Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, crash

Photo by: DTM

There were more incidents earlier on lap one, which brought out the safety car and led to the messy restart that left at least a third-of the grid with race-ending damage.

Arjun Maini’s HRT Mercedes took heavy damage after a spin into the barriers, while Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi shed a tyre after contact with Luca Stolz.

Lucas Auer is expected to lead the race when the race eventually resumes, as Marco Wittmann’s move on the Winward Mercedes at the restart is not expected to be counted amid the red flag.

Rene Rast will line up third in the Abt Audi following a brilliant getaway in the first start, with Mirko Bortolotti slipping to fifth in the Grasser Lamborghini and points leader Sheldon van der Linde taking the start in eighth after recovering from a penalty that left him 16th on the grid.

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