PICS: Carnage at Brands Hatch.
The eighth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship saw one of the biggest accidents in recent seasons after a first lap pile-up in race one saw no fewer than nine cars forced to retire.
The incident came about after Mat Jackson lost the back end of his BMW 320si on the wet kerbs on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend, which resulted in the Independent runner spinning back across the field on the run to Druids.
The eighth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship saw one of the biggest accidents in recent seasons after a first lap pile-up in race one saw no fewer than nine cars forced to retire.
The incident came about after Mat Jackson lost the back end of his BMW 320si on the wet kerbs on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend, which resulted in the Independent runner spinning back across the field on the run to Druids.
For a moment it looked like the field would avoid him, but defending champion Matt Neal had nowhere to go, and hit the spinning car - bringing him to a virtual stop on the circuit.
With the field behind unsighted by spray kicked up by the leaders in the wet conditions, Dave Pinkney then slammed into the back of the Team Halfords Honda Civic, with the field behind then ploughing into the stricken cars in scenes akin to a motorway pile-up.
Aside from Neal, Jackson and Pinkney, Tom Ferrier, Eoin Murray, Rick Kerry, Jason Hughes, Fiona Leggate and John George were forced to retire with some rather second hand looking machines, while Richard Marsh and Martyn Bell were also involved - although both would take the restart.
Both Neal and Pinkney required a trip to hospital following the shunt, which destroyed both the Halfords Honda and the A-Tech Alfa Romeo, while the damage to Ferrier's car was bad enough to ensure that he played no further part in the race weekend.
Full more images of the incident - and the aftermath - click the slideshow below...
