Dixon third as crash mars race
Alexander Rossi was as worried as the rest of the IndyCar field when a violent wreck shot Robert Wickens’ car airborne, ripped up the catchfence and left the tub of the rookie’s Honda toppled on the asphalt at Pocono Raceway yesterday.
The crash was the latest grim reminder how drivers in open-wheel racing put their lives on the line.
“It’s part of our job, right? You’ve got to compartmentalise,” Rossi said. “You’ve got to accept it and deal with that emotion after the race.”
Wickens was airlifted to a hospital with what IndyCar called “orthopedic injuries” and the race was stopped for nearly two hours to repair 30 metres of fence and leave at least one driver grumbling about safety.
Once the race restarted, Rossi got rolling.
Rossi dominated yesterday and led 180 of the 200 laps to win his second straight race and third of the season, slicing into New Zealander Scott Dixon’s grip on the championship lead with three races left in the season.
Dixon finished third and his points lead over Rossi dipped to just 29 points, as neither driver can afford much of a slip-up in the title hunt.
“We’ve been a bit blah. They’ve been excelling,” Dixon said.
Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion, ended Will Power’s bid to win three straight Pocono races. Power made a hard charge down the stretch and finished second to keep his bid for a second career IndyCar title in sight.
Rossi also won for Andretti Autosport on the streets of Long Beach in April and the Mid-Ohio road course three weeks ago.
But the championship race was tinged with worry over 29-year-old Wickens, a driver on the rise in his first season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Wickens was attempting to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay when the two cars slightly touched just six laps into the race. That caused Hunter-Reay’s car to careen into the wall and Wickens’ car was pulled along for the ride.
Once Wickens’ car soared over Hunter-Reay’s and hit the fence, it spun round and round like a top at least 10 times.
The fencing was shredded and Wickens’ car reduced to just the tub, which came to a rest on the track alongside an interior wall.
The impact of the wreck tore out about 30 metres of fence, damaged a few posts and stopped the race. After a nearly two-hour delay, the race resumed without another spate of aggressive driving.
Rossi said his thoughts were with Wickens.
“It’s tough to really celebrate after what happened,” Rossi said.
Dixon echoed the thoughts of the rest of the paddock when he said IndyCar was a “close-knit family” and that he was thinking of Wickens.
“That’s the worst thing you can see. He’s hurt. He’s awake and alert and at least he’s alive,” driver Sebastien Bourdais said.
Wickens had reeled off five straight top-five finishes and matched a career-best second in the last race at Mid-Ohio. He is sixth in the points standings.
Three rounds remain on the 17-race IndyCar schedule. The next is the Gateway Grand Prix in Illinois on Sunday (NZT).