English driver Dan Wheldon dies in massive IndyCar crash

[News_Editor]

English driver Dan Wheldon dies in massive IndyCar crash

2011-10-18 09:23:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

LAS VEGAS (BNO NEWS) -- English race car driver Dan Wheldon died on Sunday afternoon after a massive 15-car wreck at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.

During lap 11 of the world championship, Wheldon was involved in a serious 15-car accident which also injured three others. Emergency teams had to pull Wheldon out of the race car and airlift him to University Medical Center where he later died at the age of 33.

The accident happened when two cars touched tires as vehicles ran inches apart on the high-banked 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oval. Wheldon's car, ensnared in the jumble in the middle of the racetrack, flew over another and caught part of the catch fence just past the apex of Turn 2. The incident left cars smoldering and car parts strewn along the backstretch.

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced Wheldon's death, and a five-lap tribute was carried out as 19 drivers drove around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway while bagpipes played "Amazing Grace." IndyCar officials later ruled the 200-lap race as incomplete, and Monday's IndyCar Championship Celebration at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino was canceled.

The three injured racers were J.R. Hildebrand, Pippa Mann, and Will Power, who were also taken to the University Medical Center. Hildebrand stayed overnight for observation but was reported awake and alert. Mann, meanwhile had her pinkie finger operated after suffering from burns, but she will soon be released. Power was released that same afternoon after medical examinations.

Wheldon, of Emberton, England, had won this year's Indianapolis 500, as well as in 2005, when he became the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champ. He is survived by his wife, Susie, two young sons, his parents, Clive and Susie, and three siblings.

The IZOD IndyCar had not seen a fatality since Paul Dana died of injuries suffered in a crash in the race morning warmup at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006. Wheldon won the race later that day.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-18

[TAWP]

Many cars, mostly no injuries and only very minor for those that had it - and then one lethal case. Must have had some very bad luck.

RIP

[Kadafi]

His hometown milton keynes is just up the road from me.

RIP