Source: Radio New Zealand
Scott Dixon’s car after a nasty crash during practice in Florida. Twitter/Indycar
Kiwi motorsport ace Scott Dixon has emerged uninjured from a nasty crash during practice for the IndyCar St Petersburg Grand Prix in Florida.
During the first practice session – in which compatriot Scott McLaughlin had the fastest time – Dixon’s Ganassi Racing Honda slid across turn nine and collided head-first into a concrete barrier.
The car sustained heavy damage to the front, but Dixon emerged unhurt, but not before David Malukas just avoided contact with the stricken car, sneaking through a gap between the left barrier and Dixon’s left sidepod.
“Kind of a frustrating one,” Dixon said. “I got loose on entry and tried to save it, and then kind of got into an overcorrection.
“Luckily, it slid off a lot of the speed, before it hit the wall. Sometimes, you can tub a car and destroy them.
“Hopefully this isn’t too bad.”
The crash resulted in a red flag, one of three during the practice session.
Despite the damage, Dixon didn’t think he would need a back-up car for the opening Indycar race for the season, which starts at 7am Monday (NZT).
Scott Dixon has had at least one victory in 21 consecutive IndyCar seasons. PHOTOSPORT
“It actually looked fine,” said Dixon, who has had 21 consecutive IndyCar seasons with a victory.
“The rear was not bad. I think they’ll just have to change suspension, the front nose and front wing obviously, but then even the front suspension didn’t look that bad.
“It was kind of weird, so yeah, weird as in good weird.”
McLaughlin, who has had two previous pole starts at St Petersburg, had the quickest lap in 1m 1.1020s in his Team Penske Chevrolet on the 14-turn, temporary street circuit.
He led both the earlier portion of the 85-minute practice that contained all 25 cars and improved upon that time in the smaller session, after the field was divided into two groups.
“Decent first day,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously, being P1 is a great start.
“The DEX Imaging Chevy was straight away fast and felt good and comfortable. It’s good for us.
“It’s the start of a long season and it was nice to have a smooth session to start. We’ll keep pressing on and see how we go.”
Felix Rosenqvist was second overall and Florida native Kyle Kirkwood third.
Another New Zealander, Marcus Armstrong, was seventh.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
