Tragedy struck the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the weekend after Aston Martin->ke13 Racing driver, Allan Simonsen, lost his life following a devastating crash while driving the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

The 34-year-old racer was making a pass at the Tertre Rouge when he lost control of the racecar, crashing into the barricades that ultimately cost him his life. Simonsen was pronounced dead due to sustained injuries at the Circuit Medical Centre.

“On behalf of all of us at Aston Martin Racing, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the individuals, and families whose friends or loved ones were involved in today's terrible tragedy,” Aston Martin Racing Managing Director John Gaw said in a statement.

On behalf of everyone here at TopSpeed, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Allan Simonsen. Our words may ring hollow, given the shock of losing Allan, but rest assured, our thoughts are with the family as they try to recover from this devastating news.

Click past the jump to read about Allan Simonsen's racing career and Aston Mastin's press release of the driver's tragic passing

Allan Simonsen (1978-2013)

Allan Simonsen's racing career began in 1999 when he entered in two separate racing series - the Formula Ford 1800 Netherlands and the Danish Formula Ford Championship - and showing initial signs of promise by winning the latter in his first go round.

Since then, Simonsen has become a fixture in global racing circuits, making prolonged stops in V8 Supercars (2003-2007) and European LeMans Series (2005-2012).

Though he didn't win a lot of racing series in his career - his only other championship title came in 2007 at the Australian GT Championship - Simonsen was still regarded as a top-caliber racer.

Simonsen also showed that he was more than capable of winning at Le Mans, finishing second on the GT2 class podium in 2010 and third in 2007.