The motorsport world is mourning the death of Dutch driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff after he died in a fatal crash at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The 18-year-old was racing in the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship, a junior category when the horror incident unfolded.
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Tragically, he becomes the 49th driver to die at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and the first since Anthoine Hubert in 2019. Four officials have also died in incidents over the years.
The accident was reportedly similar to the one that claimed Hubert’s life.
The race was a support event for the 24 Hours of Spa of the GT World Challenge Europe.
van ‘t Hoff was running in 19th place in the 34-driver field when the incident happened in torrential rain.
van ‘t Hoff collided with a barrier and was left side-on to the oncoming traffic with Irish driver Adam Fitzgerald crashing into the side of the Dutchman’s vehicle.
Fitzgerald is in a stable condition in hospital as the Race Performance Motorsport team said: “We would like to wish Adam all the best over the next few months with his recovery. He is currently in a stable condition in hospital.”
van ‘t Hoff was reportedly unconscious when attended to by medical officials, and was rushed to the track medical centre.
But he was pronounced dead while being transported to a nearby hospital.
The torrential conditions were compared to the 2021 F1 Belgian Grand Prix which was ended three laps in — all under the safety car.
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen demanded action be taken to provide better protection for drivers.
“It’s incredibly sad,” said Verstappen. “I didn’t know him personally, he was an up and coming Dutch racing driver. He had the same dreams we had, when we were that age wanting to get to F1. It is incredibly sad for the whole family and the team MP Motorsport.
“We have to look into these situations. It is easy to blame the track but looking at how wet it was and these kind of things we have to look at it for the future to look at what we can do better to protect drivers, because I think today was unnecessary clearly.”
Lance Stroll said: “The story of the day is not the race. We lost a young driver at Spa today. My thoughts are with him and his family.
“It’s not fair what happened and that corner needs to be looked at and changed because we’ve lost two young talents in the span of five years.
“It needs to be changed, that corner. We’re going there in a few weeks. It’s horrible what happened today.
“We lost a member of the racing family and we seriously need to think about what to do at that corner because it’s never fun going through there. Every time we go through there we put our lives on the line and today we saw something bad happen and it’s not right.”
Australian F4 driver James Wharton was a close friend of van ‘t Hoff and took to Instagram to pay tribute.
“This is something that I never thought could happen to someone so close to me, you were always there for me from the start of my European journey,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Rest easy mate, you will be missed from down here.”
The F1 grid was also heartbroken with Verstappen, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz leading the tributes.
A statement at the event read: “The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine announces with sadness the death of MP Motorsport driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff. The accident took place during race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.
“The Royal Automobile Club of Belgium, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and the SRO Motorsports Group join Alpine and the ACI in expressing their sincere condolences to the family, team, and friends of the driver.”
Van ‘T Hoff’s MP Motorsport team also released a statement saying it was: “devastated at the loss of one of our brightest Dutch talents, who brought so much energy to our team during the years he raced with us.
“Dilano has been a part of our racing family since his motorsport debut with MP back in 2021.
“We offer our sincere condolences to Dilano’s family and his loved ones, and are in full support of them and our team members who have lost not only a driver but a friend as well.”
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali also paid tribute to van ‘t Hoff.
“We are so sad to learn of the passing of Dilano van ‘t Hoff today at Spa-Francorchamps,” the statement read.
“Dilano died in pursuit of his dream to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Along with the entire motorsport community, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
The FIA also shared a statement reading: “The FIA extends its condolences to the family and friends of Dilano van ‘t Hoff and to the MP Motorsport Team following the incident today during the Formula Regional European Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps.”