LA RÉUNION — Another celebrity car crash makes headlines. Fortunately, this one did damage only to the expensive vehicle, a Lamborghini Gallardo belonging to soccer star Karim Benzema of the Real Madrid team. The car went off the road, sustaining considerable damage, on the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion last week.
What's not in dispute is that the player and his friend, French rapper Rohff, had left the Villa Club discotheque on the island late at night after celebrating Benzema's 22nd birthday. Some sources say Rohff was at the wheel and Benzema was a passenger. Others say the soccer star was not in the car at all but in a Porsche.
A video posted on YouTube with French narration shows the car at the roadside being tended to by a tow truck. "The Lamborghini finished its drive on three wheels," says the narrator. A spokesman says Benzema was not in the Lambo but a passenger in a Porsche that traveled in front of the yellow sports car. The German car, according to this description, braked suddenly, causing the Lamborghini to leave the roadway.
The tow truck operator is shown in the video seated behind the wheel, smiling broadly and saying, "I don't know who was at the wheel [when the accident happened], but for the moment, I'm the one at the wheel...and I'm proud."
Back to the real world, Benzema rejoined his Real Madrid teammates on Monday and was quoted by the soccer Web site Goal.com as saying he is "ready for the great challenges that await in 2010."
Inside Line says: Apparently, one of Benzema's great challenges in 2010 will be paying for repairs to that pricey Gallardo. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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rossofiorano says:
04:18 PM, 01/01/2010
crazy wheel damage--never seen anything like that before, especially on a Lambo. nice job!
felonious says:
09:01 AM, 12/31/2009
Magnesium rims, I'm guessing?
firstclass says:
02:05 PM, 12/30/2009
I think the rim broke and that's what caused him to head into a "dirt". Local media suggest a race was taking place between the yellow Lamborghini and a Porsche. Perhaps the rim was suffering from a fracture crack. Either way the YouTube video clearly shows the passenger stabilize handle ( oh-$h!t handle) is broken as though someone grabbed it and pulled on it forcibly, so someone else was in the car. this is a clear street racing cover-up. (imo)
icecubefosho says:
01:21 PM, 12/30/2009
So a tire explodes just from a slight veer off the road into the dirt?
HA!