Fassbender admits responsibility for Paul Ricard crash that eliminated rival’s Ferrari

Michael Fassbender has admitted responsibility for his part in a crash that caused the retirement of a rival’s car during a race in France on Sunday.

He received a warning from race officials following the incident.

Fassbender was contesting the Four Hours of Le Castellet at Circuit Paul Ricard, the third round of the European Le Mans series.

The Proton Competition Porsche driver was fighting for sixth place with the Ferrari 488GTE of Team Iron Lynx’s Manuela Gostner.

Fassbender tried an over-ambitious overtaking manoeuvre which resulted in both cars colliding. Gostner’s Ferrari made it back to the pits but her team was unable to repair the car and she was forced to retire from the race.

“That wasn’t a good action by me, I guess I misjudged it a bit. I’m really sorry for all concerned. After the strong qualifying, a lot would certainly have been possible for us on Sunday. I hope that we can make up for that in Monza,” he said.

Fassbender’s crew were able to fix his Porsche 911 RSR but the repair job cost several laps. He eventually finished in eighth and last place in his class, a poor reward for a team that had qualified second.

The next round is at Monza, Italy on July 11.