One of two McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race cars being fielded by Gemballa Racing has suffered a violent crash during this past weekend’s VLN event at the Nürburgring race track in Germany.

The Nürburgring race, which took place on Saturday, March 31, was the official competition debut for the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race car.

It’s not yet clear what caused the crash nor how it unfolded, but the damage to the left side of the Gemballa Racing McLaren MP4-12C GT3 shown in this video looks quite severe and will probably see the car away from the track for at least the next week or two.

Gemballa Racing, the independent motorsports offshoot of German tuning firm Gemballa, still has another MP4-12C GT3 on hand and will be using it next month at the Monza track in Italy, as part of the Blancpain Endurance Series.

Like most McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race cars, the Gemballa Racing version you see here is closely based on the road-going MP4-12C and has a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V-8, a sequential manual transmission, a carbon fiber safety cell, a racing front-splitter, a large fixed rear wing and a rear diffuser. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the MP4-12C GT3 was its relatively short development time of about a year, a testament to just how good the road-going MP4-12C is.

Thanks Olaf for sending in the tip!