Crew members injured in Toronto
Michael Cole of Dale Coyne Racing and David Martin of Dragon Racing were treated and released from infield care center.
Chuck Homan of Dragon Racing was transported to St Michaels for further evaluation of a leg injury.
Raffi Aroyan of Dragon Racing is being transported to St Michaels for further evaluation of an ankle injury.
07/06/12 Justin and Dale Coyne Racing’s preparations for the Honda Indy Toronto got off to a horrible start on Friday morning, when the #18 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q car refused to go into neutral on its return from an installation lap right at the start of Practice 1. Despite Justin’s best efforts to slow the car it carried on into the pit box of Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, hitting the rear of the #7 car and injuring a number of crew members.
Michael Cole of Dale Coyne Racing and David Martin of Dragon Racing were treated and released from the infield care center. Chuck Homan of Dragon Racing was transported to St. Michael's Hospital for further evaluation of a leg injury and Raffi Aroyan of Dragon Racing was also transported to St. Michael's for further evaluation of an ankle injury.
“I came down pit lane and the car refused to go into neutral," said Justin. "So I was stuck in first, I couldn’t get neutral, and, on top of that, these carbon brakes don’t work when they’re cold, so was hard on the brakes and I couldn’t stop. At the last second I tried to dive into the wall to take speed off, but those guys were there and had no idea I was coming and even diving to the wall I still hit them. I really hope they are OK."
After time out to try and diagnose the problem, Justin returned to the track but was caught up in another incident at Turn 8 when he was forced to put the #18 car in the wall rather than hit the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport car of Alex Tagliani which had spun into the wall in front of him.
“I turned the corner and saw that the track was blocked and that Tag was in the wall," Justin added. “I couldn’t stop, so rather than hit him head-on I just turned back and hit the wall. It was just a horrible session. We’ll just have to regroup and hopefully get back out for the next session."
07/06/12 Justin Wilson ran into the back of Sebastian Bourdais' car in the pits in opening IndyCar practice on the streets on Toronto Friday morning sending two #7 Dragon Racing crew members to the hospital, one for a possible broken leg (Chuck Homan) and one for a possible broken ankle (Raffi Aroyan).
Apparently it was a electrical problem on Wilson's car. As he approached his dive-in point into his pit box the throttle stayed open when he lifted his foot off the accelerator. This caught Wilson by surprise and he slid into the back of Bourdais' car, which pushed into his crew members working on his car.
Michael Cole of Dale Coyne Racing and David Martin of Dragon Racing were treated and released from infield care center.