An Australian man has been charged with careless driving after crashing a multi-million dollar McLaren F1 supercar in New Zealand.
The grey sports car, worth an estimated $20 million, was taking part in a tour of New Zealand by 31 McLaren cars honouring the late Bruce McLaren, the manufacturer's Kiwi founder, when it left the road and ended up in a ditch on Saturday.
The 65-year-old Australian driver was treated for a broken or sprained thumb and has been summonsed to appear in court on Monday.
The sole passenger was uninjured.
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Freelance photographer James Allan was the first newsman to arrive at the crash scene on the Queenstown-Glenorchy Rd around midday on Saturday.
Stewards had already laid a sheet over the car and tried to stop him from taking footage of the scene. He said he was also offered a bribe to stop taking pictures.
The same minders reportedly tried to shut down other media from taking footage of the crashed car, telling one cameraman they "didn't want it on the news".
A New Zealand station duly showed the footage on their 6pm news.
The crashed car was a 1994 McLaren F1 capable of travelling at speeds of up to 400kmh.
Former owners include the Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson, who crashed his F1 twice, racking up a repair bill in the millions of dollars.
McLaren Automotive Asia Pacific marketing manager Geoff Tink said all of the drivers taking part in the rally had daily safety briefings.
Stuff.co.nz, AAP