Danish driver Allan Simonsen suffered fatal injuries as a result of  a third lap accident in Saturday’s 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Simonson was driving the GTE-Am pole-sitting No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 when lost control at Tetre Rouge. His car made heavy contact with barriers.

The driver was attended to on the scene by doctors from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and was transported to the circuit medical center where he died of his injuries.

The accident resulted in a safety car period of more than 1 hour to repair the barriers.

Simonsen was due to share the car with fellow Danes Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen, the current GTE-Am championship leaders in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Simonsen, a former Danish Formula Ford champion, was a versatile GT driver, having competed in Europe, America and Australia, with numerous wins and championships to his credit.

Simonsen was participating for the seventh time in the endurance race.

It is the first driver death at Le Mans since 1997 when Sebastien Enjolras lost his life in pre-qualifying. The last driver fatality in the 24-hour race was Jo Gartner in 1986.

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