Celebrity

Motorsport Star Dies In Horror Crash

13:32 03 July 2023

Updated: 03:07 23 November 2024

Motorsport star Dilano van’t Hoff has tragically died aged 18.

The Dutch racing driver was competing at the Formula Regional European Championship on July 1 in Belgium when the tragedy took place.

He was participating in the morning race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit when devastatingly, he was involved in a multi-car collision.

Watch Michael Schumacher race at the San Marino Grand Prix below…

According to reports, van’t Hoff was caught in a multiple car accident during a restart in wet conditions.

It’s believed he spun and was hit at high speed when exiting Eau-Rouge-Raidillon at the start of the Kemmel straight by the RP Motorsport car driven by Adam Fitzgerald – who is reportedly in a stable condition in hospital.

The race organisers have said they’ve been left ‘devastated’ by the news in a statement.

The statement reads: “Everyone associated with the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is devastated by the news that Formula Regional EU by Alpine driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff lost his life in an accident during this morning’s race.

Related Article: Cyclist Gino Mader Has Died Aged 26

“We express our deepest condolences to his family, friends and MP Motorsport.”

A number of big names in the racing world have paid tribute to van’t Hoff.

Lewis Hamilton shared a photo of the 18-year-old on his Instagram story and wrote: “Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with his family.”

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali posted on his Twitter: “We are so sad to learn of the passing of Dilano van ‘t Hoff today at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Dilano died in pursuit of his dream to reach the pinnacle of motorsport. Along with the entire motorsport community, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”

Lewis Hamilton's Instagram — Lewis Hamilton led tributes 18-year-old racer Dilano von’t Hoff. Credit: @lewishamilton/Instagram

Aston Martin racer Lance Stroll told The Race: “We lost a young driver at Spa today. My thoughts are with him and his family.”

He then addressed the safety track – which has come into question almost four years after Formula 2 star Anthoine Hubert died after being involved in a similar accident on the track.

Stroll continued: “It’s not fair what happened and that corner needs to be looked at and changed because we’ve lost two young talents in the span of five years.”

Formula 1 World Champion Max Vestappen echoed Stroll’s concerns, adding: “Definitely things that we have to look at for the future, what we can do better to protect drivers, because I think today was unnecessary, clearly.

“It’s easy to blame the track, but I think [we should] also look at how wet it was and these kind of things.

A minute’s silence was held for van’t Hoff before the start of the 24 Hours of Spa race – which took place on July 1.

Watch our Video of the Day below…

Rosario Monachino

Editor

Rosario is a former content editor at IGV who specialized in film, TV, and entertainment news. He has a degree in English and Film from the University of Salford and a master’s in Journalism from Liverpool John Moores University.

Categories:

Celebrity