Porsche 962C crashes at Spa-Francorchamps, owner tries to sue videographer

The notorious Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium has claimed another victim after a Porsche 962C crashed into a tyre barrier along the start-finish straight.

While the car's driver was cleared and fortunately walked away unharmed from the accident, the impact tore off the nose of the 1980s Group C prototype, scattering parts across the track and triggered what can only be imagined as a hefty repair bill – with the car's estimated value sitting around $1.61 million.

However, although crashes at private track days aren't an uncommon occurrence, this case has been made slightly different as the videographer who captured the incident and uploaded it to YouTube claims the car's owner has threatened to sue him if the video isn't removed.

4

Before the crash...

Auto Addiction is a channel which has over 482,000 subscribers and films motorsport events across Europe, with the person behind the camera in the right place at the right time to capture this smash.

With over 315,000 views on the video, one of the top comments come from those who posted it, explaining the threat they had been sent by the owner.

"The owner of the Porsche is threatening with legal action against us if we don't take the video offline," the comment said.

"What do you think, should the video remain online? As far as we believe, with all the censoring in the video and the fact it's filmed from a public area, it's 100 per cent legal and does not need any permission from the owner of the car."

4

...and just after it hit the wall

According to Steimann Motorsport Service, this particular chassis doesn't have any period racing pedigree, having been built from a new American-built base with parts from various other 962Cs.

An evolution of the Porsche 956, the 962C was a Group C prototype which raced in sportscar championships around the world from 1984 to 1996, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona three times each, as well as three IMSA and two World Endurance/Sports Prototype titles.

At peak power, the 3.0-litre, twin-turbo flat-six engine made around 574kW – although by the sounds of the throttle application before this one hit the wall, much less power was being delivered to the 17x15J rear wheels.