Arguably the most exciting part of this weekend’s Le Mans series race in France wasn’t the racing – but the crashing.

While anything from trading paint to end-overs always draws excitement (just ask the legions of NASCAR fans), it’s as much the reason for this crash as what happened that’s so interesting.

Taking place at the famed Paul Ricard circuit, the lights went green to start the race, but the Audi pace car had not left the track. The field immediately began to accelerate, only to then resort to braking in a hurry so as not to pass (or run into) the safety car. Unfortunately for those at the back of the pack, the front straight at Paul Ricard comes after a bump in the track, so that those at the back of the pack can’t see the front-runners – although they can see the race lights. With the prototypes braking and the GT cars still accelerating, a pileup was inevitable. The resulting crashes took out four of the five competitors in the GTE-AM Class, leaving the one untouched car to top the podium.

[Source: AxisofOversteer]

Watch the video after the jump:

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Dr. Dre’s long awaited new album Detox has had more false starts than the Toyota FT-86, but the legendary hip-hop producer has finally released a single, titled I Need A Doctor. If you like hip-hop music, you’ve doubtlessly heard the song by now, but you might not have seen the video, which involves a horrific crash involving a Ferrari 360 Modena.

The intro to the video has Dre driving the 360 along some twisty mountain roads while reflecting on his earlier rap career, followed by the Doc losing control of the car and crashing violently. While the crash scene is pivotal to the entire video, we were a little surprised that the crash was real, and not done via CGI or any other method. Then again, with video budgets reaching higher and higher, a used 360 is probably a fraction of what it costs to put together the actual video.

[Source: Carscoop]

Behind the scenes video after the jump

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A Landisville, Pennsylvania area car salesman turned himself in to police after a customer test drive of a Mitsubishi Lancer ended with a passenger’s death.

According to Lancaster Online, Michael D. Hershey was charged with homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and driving at an unsafe speed in the  death of Jon Christian “Chris” Jensen. Jensen had taken his son Tyler to look for cars, and the two were on a test drive with Hershey when the salesman instructed Tyler to pull over and let him drive. Tyler Jensen said that Hershey was driving recklessly at speeds of up to 90 mph, when he swerved to avoid hitting an oncoming truck and hit an embankment. Hershey and Chris Jensen were ejected from the car, with Jensen suffering horrific injures that mortally wounded him.

It later emerged that Hershey was intoxicated at the time of the crash and had previous convictions for vehicular offenses.

Brand new Ferraris are notoriously hard to buy. Not only do you have to endure a massive waiting list, but you also have to jump through hoops with your local dealer just to merit a spot, among them, owning a brand new Ferrari previously, or paying more than sticker price for the privilege.

One unfortunate gentleman in Florida had just survived the agonizing crucible, only to see his barely broken-in Ferrari 458 Italia reduced to a crushed heap of aluminum after a Ford F-150 landed on top of the Italian supercar. Although reports state that there may have been some less-than-legal driving before the crash happened, all we know is that it’s better than having the car spontaneously combust.

[Source: The Examiner]

Karting is one of the most fun things you can do with an engine and four wheels, but it takes a toll on your body even in the best cases. Without any springs or shocks, your body is basically the suspension, and if you’re unfortunate enough to crash, well, there’s nothing there to protect you either.

This kart race in M0naco is an extreme example of what happens in a kart crash – absolute mayhem thanks to wet weather and no seatbelts. But we still laughed.

[Source: The Garage Blog]

Hit the jump to watch the video

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What better way is there to celebrate your freshly minted driver’s license than to crash your car through the DMV?

According to the Associated Press, the new driver had just finished dropping his examiner off when the driver burst through the office. Apparently, he thought the car was in Park, but was mistaken. Unfortunately, DMV officials were unable to revoke his passing grade.

Hit the jump to watch a new driver crash through the DMV

[Source: Associated Press]

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Hale, UK Police seized this yellow Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII after its driver was stopped for “driving erratically” and arrested for DUI. Normal police procedure, in the UK requires the officers wait for a transporter to tow a seized car to impound, but not this time. The two officers decided to drive the car themselves, and, well, the photos show what happened next.

The officer behind the wheel lost control at what appears to be very high speed, and ended up rolling the car on a local man’s lawn. One of the officers suffered minor injuries, and clearly their superiors will be launching an investigation into their behavior. Evo carnage gallery after the jump:

[Source: BBC via Redliners]

[Photo Credit: LancerRegister]

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A Gaithersburg, MD man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for drunkenly crashing his car into an elderly couple. The driver of the other car was none other than Edwin Collier, a retired judge. The same judge, in fact, who had let the drunk driver, Rene Fernandez, off with probation after his first DUI conviction in 1998.

Fernandez, who claims the day of the accident was the first drink he’s had since 2005, swerved into the oncoming lane and hit Collier and his wife head-on, causing life-altering injuries for the retired couple. They have since been forced to sell their two homes and move, after injuries to their legs prevent them from walking up stairs.

Lawyers for the Colliers are using this incident as a call-to-action for DUI reform, claiming that high-priced defense lawyers are simply too much for inexperienced prosecutors to handle, and subsequently too many people are getting off with not enough punishment.

What do you think? If judge Collier had thrown the book at Rene Fernandez the first time around, could this incident have been avoided?

[Source: Gazette]

Rapper-chick Nicki Minaj rented a 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster as a prop for her “Massive Attack” video. As you can see in the screen shot above, she didn’t really take care of it. Minaj rented the Lambo from Hollywood Exotic Car Rental for $1,750/day (a very reasonable rate in California), and used it for filming in the Southern California desert. Hollywood Exotic Car Rental is suing Minaj for $11,589 after the car came back damaged from its off-road excursions, as well as $5,250 for keeping the car three days longer than agreed.

If you know anything about cars, the damage bill actually isn’t all that bad, it sounds about right for a replacement carbon fiber bumper and paintwork. Minaj could have avoided this problem entirely simply by raising the Lambo’s hydraulic-activated front suspension. As you can clearly see in the video, she didn’t.

TMZ incorrectly reported the car as a 2008 Pink Lamborghini Murciélago, but a quick glance at the video itself will tell you that the car is actually a 2006 (non-LP640) model, and that it’s actually white with a pink vinyl wrap.

Niki Minaj’s absolutely dreadful “Massive Attack” video after the jump.

[Source: TMZ]

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The deadly Ohio tornado that killed seven people last week claimed two more victims, a late-model Dodge Viper RT-10 and a Dodge Ram SRT-10. If we do the math, that’s a total of 950 horsepower put out of commission. Ironically, both of these vehicles would have no problem outrunning a tornado, with the Viper topping out at 187 mph and the Ram, the world’s fastest production truck, topping out at 154. We’ll have to assume the drivers were cowering in fear in a basement at the time. Let’s hope they have full coverage.

[Source: Jalopnik]

This is pretty amazing. In this video, a car appears to come through the corner too hot and slide out of its lane into the cab of a semi truck carrying Pepsi. The truck loses control, jumps the median, and rolls over spilling America’s second-favorite beverage all over the freeway.

Amazingly, a the driver of a Porsche Cayenne manages to swerve and avoid the impending head-on collision. He does end up in the wall on the right side, but we think his day at the Porsche driving school still paid off.

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You really don’t want to crash at the Nürburgring. Seems like a pretty obvious statement, right? Well it is, but not necessarily for the reasons you may be thinking. The ‘Ring may be one of the most feared racetracks in the world, with its 13+ miles of twists, turns and elevation changes, but the most frightening part of lapping the most famous course on Earth is the potential damage bill if you hit the wall. Forget fixing your car, that comes second to repairing the Armco barriers you’ve just dented. How big can that bill get? Hit the jump to find out.

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Rally driving requires serious concentration on both the part of the driver and co-driver. If the co-driver reads stage notes wrong, or a driver doesn’t react quickly, a crash and possible rollover is almost a given. Many seasoned rally drivers have trained themselves to ignore the spectators along the sides of the stage, but one man distracts Mark Tapper in his prepared Mitsubishi Lancer in a most interesting way, by showing him his ass. The distraction is enough for Tapper to overshoot the next corner during the Rally New Zealand race and end up on his roof. Amazing video after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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One of the most famous YouTube videos in the last year has got to be the “Worst parking job ever,” a clip ran by news channel CP24 after a BMW X5 drove over two parked cars at a Newmarket, Ontario gym.

We weren’t sure an X5 could drive over anything, until 62-year-old Tripta Kaushal showed us how it’s done —thanks to hidden camera surveillance footage.

Thankfully, the police caught up to her, and after pleading guilty was given a small $500 fine, ordered to pay restitution to the two victims, six months probation, and banned from driving between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

We’ve embedded the original clip after the jump, as well as Hyundai Canada’s response — see, the blue car is an Elantra GT, and the owner of that wrecked car was given a brand new Elantra Touring in the aftermath.

Sweet deal, and we may just hire Kaushal to run Dakar for us next year…

See after the jump for the original video:

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During testing for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, Torro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi was involved in a bizarre crash that just has to be seen. While under hard breaking down the main straight heading into Turn 14, both front wheels and tires came flying off his race car, leaving him without steering or much braking.

Since the incident Torros Rosso has examined the car and found the fault to be with the front suspension, which essentially collapsed, snapping the wheels loose. The part in question is part of a new design introduced on the car for the Chinese GP. Buemi was unhurt and should be ready for qualifying tomorrow for Sunday’s race.

[Source: Jalopnik and Formula1]

See more video of the crash after the jump:

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