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Lady luck favours Andretti
Indianapolis, Apr 24: Motor racing legend Mario Andretti escaped injury after crashing spectacularly on his return to the cockpit of an Indy car on Wednesday. His car flipped several times at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after coming into contact with debris on the track.
Indianapolis, Apr 24: Motor racing legend Mario Andretti escaped injury after crashing spectacularly on his return to the cockpit of an Indy car on Wednesday. His car flipped several times at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after coming into contact with debris on the track.
"I'm very lucky indeed," said the 63-year-old Andretti, who walked away from the crash. "I didn't hit anything hard, except for the debris on the track. It happened so fast, there wasn't time for anyone to warn me.
"What I hit wasn't big, but it was solid and it was able to launch me. And then all I saw was sky. It is just one of those things." Andretti was back behind the wheel because of a number of injuries to regular drivers of the Andretti Racing team, run by eldest son Michael. Tony Kanaan is sidelined with a broken wrist while Scotland's Dario Franchitti suffered a broken lower back in a motorcycle accident.
Kanaan, from Brazil, could still race in the Indy 500 but Franchitti has already been ruled out. And that could open the way for Andretti senior, who won the Indy 500 in 1969 and the Formula One world title in 1978.
"The way it looks from the cockpit is the way I remember," he said. "I'm not put out to pasture yet. I stay close to the races. I like to be informed.
"I feel I have the experience here that I probably can handle the situation here better than anywhere else at this stage in my life."
Michael Andretti added: "Tony definitely will make the race. There is a good possibility he is going to qualify as well. So this is more of a back-up."
Bureau Report
"I'm very lucky indeed," said the 63-year-old Andretti, who walked away from the crash. "I didn't hit anything hard, except for the debris on the track. It happened so fast, there wasn't time for anyone to warn me.
"What I hit wasn't big, but it was solid and it was able to launch me. And then all I saw was sky. It is just one of those things." Andretti was back behind the wheel because of a number of injuries to regular drivers of the Andretti Racing team, run by eldest son Michael. Tony Kanaan is sidelined with a broken wrist while Scotland's Dario Franchitti suffered a broken lower back in a motorcycle accident.
Kanaan, from Brazil, could still race in the Indy 500 but Franchitti has already been ruled out. And that could open the way for Andretti senior, who won the Indy 500 in 1969 and the Formula One world title in 1978.
"The way it looks from the cockpit is the way I remember," he said. "I'm not put out to pasture yet. I stay close to the races. I like to be informed.
"I feel I have the experience here that I probably can handle the situation here better than anywhere else at this stage in my life."
Michael Andretti added: "Tony definitely will make the race. There is a good possibility he is going to qualify as well. So this is more of a back-up."
Bureau Report