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“We Have Lost Enough”: Trauma Comes Back to Haunt Pierre Gasly as He Demands “Investigation” Into the Death of Prodigy Dilano Van’t Hoff

Published 07/03/2023, 8:30 AM EDT

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via Imago

The entire world of Motorsport was shocked and went into mourning after a fatal crash during the second Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. It was 18-year-old Dilano Van’t Hoff, who died in the crash. Condolences for the Hoff family’s loss poured in from the F1 fraternity. Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll even highlighted the dangerous nature of the Spa track. And Pierre Gasly agreed with those statements, demanding a detailed investigation into the matter.

In 2019, there was a similar incident in Spa because of which F2 driver, Anthoine Hubert, passed away. Hubert was a close friend of Gasly. And it had become very tough for the French driver to move on from that phase. Now, Van’t Hoff’s death has taken place on the same track. That is why he has urged the FIA to take strict action and investigate the accident.

Gasly said, as quoted by grandepremio.com.br, “I think we’re all shocked and extremely saddened by what happened. It reminds us, obviously, of the sad moments with what happened to Anthoine [Hubert] a few years ago. It just feels wrong. We should never be in the position of losing young talent. So this clearly deserves an investigation, to understand exactly what happened and to make sure that these scenarios never happen again, because we’ve already lost enough talent in such a sad way.” [translated by Google]

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He further added, “I really hope everyone involved in the safety of the pilots takes action, because it’s not the first time, and this should never have happened. We shouldn’t have been in this situation a few years ago, and it just deserves a review.”

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While speaking about the incident, he also mentioned how insecure he felt when driving in Spa in his early days.

Pierre Gasly Highlights the Dangers of the Belgian Track By Citing His Early Years In Racing

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The Spa-Francorchamps circuit has posed safety concerns for racing drivers time and again. The Eau Rouge is the most exciting but dangerous part of the circuit and that is where both those crashes took place. But, despite such accidents, the FIA has not taken the track off the calendars. Commenting on the same, Gasly cited his own harrowing experiences on the track in his early years.

via Imago

Gasly said, “It reminds me of some situations I’ve been in, also in the lower categories at Spa. To be honest, at times I felt in huge danger because of poor visibility. In some situations, I felt quite insecure.”

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The Belgian GP is just 4 weeks away. Considering the horrific accident that has taken the life of a young talent, will the FIA carry on with the race? Or at least make changes to the circuit?

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Written by:

Yash Kotak

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Yash is a F1 writer at EssentiallySports. With a strong passion for communicating through written word and a keen interest in the world of motorsports, he thoroughly enjoys being a fan of F1 and covering it for other fans. Ever since he watched the 'INSIDE TRACKS' episode covering the 2018 German Grand Prix, he has fallen in love with the intriguingly complex world of F1.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai