McNish walks away in Le Mans [Reuters]
The first hour of today's Le Mans 24 Hour race was marred by a huge accident for Audi's Scottish driver Allan McNish.
McNish had enjoyed a superb start from fifth on the grid to be running second shortly before the hour mark when he clipped the number 58 GTE Pro Ferrari of Anthony Beltoise while attempting to lap the back marker as the cars headed down towards the Esses, crashing violently into the barriers.
The Audi R18 suffered a high impact and slewed over the Armco railing throwing debris over trackside marshals and photographers.
McNish was extracted safely from his stricken car but there was no immediate word on whether any spectators had been hurt.
The accident forced the safety car onto the track and left last year's winner Timo Bernhard up front in the lead Audi ahead of its remaining sister car and the three Peugeots.
Despite the extensive damage done to both the new-for-2011 R18 and the crash barrier, an Audi spokesman confirmed McNish had escaped serious injury.
'He's fine,' the spokesman told reporters. 'He's more gutted about retiring from the race.'
McNish was taken away by ambulance for medical checks by both circuit and Audi doctors, while the spokesman confirmed the two-time Le Mans winner would then be taken to the local hospital for a precautionary scan.
It all marked a sorry end to a day which had promised so much.
McNish had been enjoying a stellar drive having overtaken the number nine Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais early on before getting the better of Franck Montagny just after the 20-minute mark to establish an Audi one-two-three.
McNish had already overhauled team-mate Benoit Treluyer and had just taken Bernhard for the lead when the Scot became entangled with Beltoise.
'I have absolutely no idea what happened,' said Beltoise.
'I was on my second lap after a pit stop. I didn't even see the Audi coming up behind me.
'The impact was very heavy. I'm disappointed for Audi, and I hope Allan is well. I'm doing fine, but I was just very surprised by the accident.'
Head of Audi Sport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich felt the blame, if any was to be apportioned, lay with the backmarker.
'The Ferrari closed the door, Allan had no chance whatsoever,' said Ullrich.
'He went off very quickly, but luckily managed to get out of the car unharmed. To see that the cars are so strong is good, but that's not the way we like to demonstrate it.'
Such was the size of the crash just after the Dunlop Bridge, repair crews were still working on rebuilding the barrier an hour after the accident.
With two hours gone and the drivers still circling under the safety car, Bernhard led from the number two Audi of Treluyer, with the two Peugeots of Alex Wurz and Bourdais next up.
The number eight Peugeot was down the order after electing to stop for a driver change during the safety car period, with Stephane Sarrazin taking over from Montagny.
The safety car eventually pulled in at the end of the 24th lap.
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