A young racer from the Netherlands, Dilano van’t Hoff, died after having an accident during a race in the Formula Regional European Championship on Saturday (1/7/2023). The 18-year-old racer who played for MP Motorsport died at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Belgium.
The Dutch racer was involved in a multi-car accident in the second of three races in the Formula Regional European Championship. Videos circulating on social media show visibility on the track which is very bad due to bad weather. Van’t Hoff’s car skidded and spun in the middle of the track before being hit at full speed by Adam Fitzgerald’s car at the start of the Kemmel Straight, one of the longest straights on the Formula 1 calendar.
The same circuit also claimed the lives of French driver Anthoine Hubert who lost his life at the Formula 2 race in 2019. Apart from Hubert, there was one other racer who also experienced fatal consequences from the incident, namely Juan Manuel Correa from the United States. Luckily, Correa’s life could still be saved even though he had to suffer serious injuries.
That time, from the results of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) investigation, there was no specific cause of the accident. The FIA also stated there was no evidence that any driver was slow to respond to the yellow flag signal as a sign of the state of affairs on the circuit.
“We are very saddened to hear of the passing of Dilano van’t Hoff at Spa-Francorchamps today,” said F1 boss Stefano Domenicali. “Dilano died in pursuit of his dream of reaching the top of the motorsport world. Our thoughts and those of everyone in the motorsport community are with his family and all he loves.”
A touching statement was also made by the MP Motorsport team. “We are saddened by the loss of one of the best Dutch talents who gave so much energy to our team while he was playing with us,” said an official statement from the MP team.
“Dilano has been part of our racing family since his motorsport debut with MP in 2021. Our deepest condolences go to the Dilano family and all he loves. We fully support them and all members of our team who have lost not only a rider but also a friend.” The Formula Regional European Championship is the European Formula 3 racing series that forms the basis for the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
