Driver killed in Le Mans crash

Danish racing driver Allan Simonsen has died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash during today's Le Mans 24 Hours race in France.

Simonsen (34) was contesting the GTE Am category at the wheel of an Aston Martin when he crashed heavily at the Tertre Rouge. The 34-year-old was immediately attended to by doctors from the race’s medical team.

“In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the Circuit Medical Centre where he died soon after due to his injuries,” a statement from the race organisers confirmed.

Simonsen was an experienced Le Mans campaigner and was racing for the seventh time at La Sarthe. The race was less than 10 minutes old when the accident occured.

Only two days earlier Simonsen, along with Danish teammates Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen, was celebrating after the number 95 Aston claimed pole position in the GTE Am class.

Simonsen was the Danish Formula Ford champion in 1999 and went on to race in Formula Palmer Audi and the British Formula Renault Championship before carving out a career in sports cars. He won the 2007 Australian GT Championship and took class honours in the 2009 Asian Le Mans Series.

A second-placed finish in the GT2 class in 2010 marked Simonsen’s best result at Le Mans, while in 2008 he stepped up to contest the prototype LMP2 class at the famous endurance race.