Motorsport: Hartley in scary moment at Silverstone

Brendon Hartley during practice for opening round of WEC at Silverstone, April 2016. Pic supplied.

Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley was involved in a scary moment at the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone.

Hartley nearly flipped his Porsche 919 Hybrid when he attempted to run wide by Michael Wainwright.

At the time of the crash Hartley held a comfortable lead of more than 40 seconds after taking over from former Formula One driver Mark Webber.

The team was forced to retire after the crash.

"I feel very upset for the team," Hartley told Motorsport.com..

"The car was incredibly good and Mark did a mega first stint. When I took over, everything was good. I had a comfortable lead, didn't feel under pressure and did a good job in traffic, too.

"Then I wanted to get past a GT car on the outside, which is quite normal through that corner, but the driver didn't see me and used all the road."

"I don't want to blame anyone. It was a shocking moment and it is a true shame."