A Formula Regional race suffered a chaotic start as around a dozen cars were involved in a huge crash which sent at least two airborne.
The field in the Formula Regional Middle East championship was 27-strong at the beginning of the race at Kuwait Motor Town on Friday, but many of them didn't even make it past the first couple of corners before their race was over.
Everyone got through the short run up to turn one unscathed, but problems arose at the end of the long run down to the second corner. The leaders tried to go into the corner five abreast on the track, which was only ever going to end in tears for some of them.
Several incidents all happened within just a couple of seconds of each other. The first saw Joshua Duerksen sent up into the air after contact with one of the PHM racing cars, resulting in his car being sandwiched with his Hyderabad Blackbirds team-mate Sami Meguetounif.
But the bigger and much more scary hit came a couple of seconds after. Brad Benavides, as a result of contact with the Hitech GP of Gabriele Mini, was flipped over and landed on top of several cars.
He rode for several seconds upside-down on top of his Hyderabad Blackbirds team-mate Mari Boya before flicking back over and coming to rest in the gravel. In total, at least eight or nine cars had been involved in contact while several others had been forced to come to a complete stop to avoid picking up damage themselves.
The commentator described the incident as "a complete mess", but fortunately all involved were unharmed. It took a lengthy safety car period to remove all the stricken cars and debris, but eventually the racing began again.
Red Bull junior Sebastian Montoya looked like he was going to be the big beneficiary of the crash, as he had moved up to fourth place after starting 18th on the grid. But he was unable to capitalise as he failed to finish, as a result of another incident later in the race.
In the end, the race was won by Dino Beganovic, who had started ninth and managed to stay out of trouble in what was a chaotic race from start to finish. Luke Browning, who was crowned Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in December, finished finished eighth on his debut in the series.
