Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Something needs to be done to avoid a repeat of the accidents that we have seen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month

(Steve Swope for Team Penske)

The Indianapolis 500 is over for another year and ahead next year’s 100th edition of the most historic race in motorsport the organisers of the event and the Indy Racing League need to come together to find a solution to the issues that the sport had over the course of the month of May.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway have confirmed that renovation work will be done at the venue ahead of the 2016 event.

During the build up to this year’s event there were a number of horrendous accidents on the famous Brickyard. Penske Racing Team’s Helio Castroneves was involved in a huge accident which saw his No.3 Penske Racing machine flip upside down and land right side up. The Brazilian walked away from the accident unhurt but it was an extremely frightening accident.

In practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway prior to the race last week, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports James Hinchcliffe had a horrendous accident and suffered massive blood loss after a suspension element pierced the cockpit of his car.

The Canadian underwent surgery at the IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. The following day Josef Newgarden flipped his car in another horrifying accident while CFH Racing co-owner Ed Carpenter was also involved in a big crash when his car also flipped prior to the Indianapolis 500. He managed to the race but retired on lap 112 of the race following contact.

Chip Ganassi Racing Team’s Sebastian Saavedra ended up with a dislocated foot following a three car collision on lap 175 of the 200 lap event. As a result, the Colombian will miss this weekend’s double header at Belle Isle, Detroit.

The Indianapolis 500 also saw Dale Coyne Racing Team crew member Daniel Jang injured following pit road accident involving Dale Coyne Racing’s James Davison, Tristan Vautier and Pippa Mann. Jang underwent surgery at the IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on foot injuries he suffered during the accident.

© Ben Johnston 2015

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