Davidson's Toyota in Spectacular Le Mans Crash

British driver Anthony Davidson was involved in a spectacular crash at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race on Saturday when his Toyota collided with a Ferrari, the clash sending his car airborne.

The incident happened in the fifth hour of the famed endurance race at Mulsanne Corner as Davidson's Toyota was clipped by the Ferrari of Piergiuseppe Perazzini.

Davidson's vehicle left the track, turned on its side before smashing into the tyre barrier. The Ferrari also ended upside down as the safety car was summoned.

When the race was halted, the Toyota of Nicolas Lapierre was leading last year's winner, the Audi of Benoit Treluyer.

The 80th edition of Le Mans got underway on the dot of 1500 local time (1300GMT) with all bar two of the 56 car grid setting off without incident.

Two cars, the Pescarolo of Emmanuel Collard and the Honda with Briton Jonny Kane at the wheel started from the grid slip road due to last minute mechanical problems.

The start flag was waved by Takeshi Uchiyamada, vice-president of Toyota, who are represented by two cars driven initially by Stephane Sarrazine, who set off from the second row, and Austrian Alex Wurz.