After the race resumed at lap 6 following a long safety car period, Thomas Preining and David Schumacher were battling for position when they made contact before braking for Turn 8, their cars veering into the barriers at high speed before bouncing back on track.
This created a bottleneck and led to Dennis Olsen losing control of his SSR Porsche - ostensibly due to a contact - sending him straight into the barrier on the other side of the track.
Such was the intensity of the impact that several engine compliments got thrown out of his car, which immediately caught fire in a scary moment for the Norwegian.
The Team Bernhard Porsche of title contender Preining and the Winward Mercedes of Schumacher also picked up heavy damage during the pile up.
All drivers were able to escape from their cars, but some have been sent to the medical centre for check-ups.
The race was red flagged immediately, with all cars returning to the pitlane. The race eventually resumed at 2:25pm after one lap behind the safety car, with the Indy-style restart format dropped as a precaution.
Prior to the Turn 6 chaos, multiple cars were involved in an incident earlier in the lap that was triggered by Philipp Eng and Nico Muller coming to blows at the opening right-hander.
The aftermath of their incident caught out several drivers including Grasser Racing Lamborghini duo Clemens Schmid and Rolf Ineichen, with the latter then tagging the Attempto Audi of Mariuz Zug as they both crashed into the wall.
There were more incidents earlier on lap 1, which brought out the safety car and led to the messy restart that left at least a third-of the grid with race-ending damage.
Arjun Maini’s HRT Mercedes took heavy damage after a spin possibly caused by contact from Maro Engel’s GruppeM AMG GT3, while Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi shed a tyre in a dangerous manner in a separate incident on the same
Lucas Auer is expected to lead the race when the race eventually resumes, as Marco Wittmann’s move on the Winward Mercedes at the restart is not expected to be counted amid the red flag.
Rene Rast will line up third in the Abt Audi following a brilliant getaway in the first start, with Mirko Bortolotti slipping to fifth in the Grasser Lamborghini and points leader Sheldon van der Linde taking the start in eighth after recovering from a penalty that left him 16th on the grid.
