Qualifying for the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship event in Abu Dhabi has been interrupted by a serious accident involving the Matech Competition Ford GT driven by Natacha Gachnang.
The Swiss driver went straight on at the end of the Yas Marina circuit's kilometer-long back straight, on which the Fords were achieving top speeds approaching 170mph. Gachnang was reported to be conscious when she was extricated from the car and was taken the medical center with a suspected broken leg.
Phoenix Racing/Carsport driver Andreas Zuber was fastest when the session was stopped with just under three minutes left of the first round of qualifying left. His time of 2m06.780s was nearly a second ahead of second-placed Frederic Makowiecki in the Hexis Aston Martin DBR9.
The fastest 16 cars will proceed to the next round of the qualifying when the second driver in each car will take over. Eight cars will then proceed to the final round.