Dixon survives ’wild ride’ crash
Scott Dixon has coolly described a ‘‘wild ride’’ after walking away from a terrifying high speed crash at the Indy 500 with a minor injury.
Disaster struck on lap 54 of the famous race for Kiwi motorsport ace and polesitter Dixon when lapped driver Jay Howard let another car through but got above the racing line.
Howard slipped up the oval circuit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hitting the wall and falling back down the track.
Travelling at about 350kmh, a trailing Dixon had almost no time to react as his car launched off the back of Howard’s and into the air, spinning and colliding hard with the safety barrier.
Dixon’s No 9 Chip Ganassi Honda then flipped violently onto its top and back onto its one remaining wheel before the splintered wreck slid to a rest.
Dixon and Howard both walked away from the incident and were cleared and released by the medical centre at the track. The race was won by Japan’s Takuma Sato.
The Kiwi later returned to have a sore left ankle assessed and left for a second time in a padded boot.
Speaking to ESPN after the crash, Dixon described the incident as a ‘‘wild ride’’ and said he was happy that everyone was unharmed.
‘‘Just a little bit beaten up there, it was definitely a bit of rough ride. I’m just bummed for the whole team though,’’ the 2008 Indy 500 winner and four-time Indy Car champion said.
Dixon had a split-second choice to make as he spotted Howard’s car falling down the track towards him.
Sitting sixth after one pit-stop, Dixon attempted to turn under Howard but was unable to prevent his front right colliding with the back left of the No 77 car, sending him skywards and into the barrier and fence.
‘‘I think when you make those decisions about which way to go, you’re hoping that Jay was going to stay against the wall but I’d already picked that way to go ... so just happy he’s OK too,’’ Dixon said.
Understandably emotional, Dixon’s wife Emma described just how serious she thought things were as she watched the incident unfold.
‘‘I really didn’t think he was coming home,’’ she said. ‘‘That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I went back to the bus to use the loos, I looked up on the TV just as it happened, I’m just glad he’s OK ... that’s all that really matters.’’
No doubt referring to the fact Dixon had last weekend powered his way to pole before later being robbed at gunpoint in a restaurant drive-through, Davies-Dixon said it had been an insane week of highs and lows.
She also added how thankful she was for the safety features of the open-wheel cars used in Indy Car and the fast work of the safety crew.
‘‘To see them running to him that quickly, I think it was seconds. I was watching it and everything was moving really slowly in that moment for me but I remember seeing safety crew get to him.
‘‘It’s just not our week, it’s just not meant to be.’’
Dixon’s car became loose and hard to handle as he dropped back several spots before the first round of pit-stops, but he said it felt as though they were making some progress before the incident.
Known by many as ‘‘Ice Man’’, the south Auckland-raised driver was typically cool about the crash and also heaped praise on the sport’s safety protocols.
‘‘It’s just a wild ride and you have to hold on and believe in the safety progress that we’ve made over the last many years,’’ he said.