http://youtube.com/watch?v=
CIatXMiyZ6w[/youtube]
The Indy Racing League has issued the following statement regarding its safety team’s response after Simona de Silvestro crashed and subsequently had an oil fire erupt on her car during Saturday’s Firestone 550k:
“First and foremost, we make the safety of our competitors a priority when on the track. The primary hose on the series’ safety truck malfunctioned, so the safety team had to go to the backup of the bottles. All equipment is checked prior to going on track before every race. We are examining why the hose malfunctioned to ensure this equipment failure will not happen again.
Our Safety Team consists of approximately 24 highly-trained safety personnel with a minimum of 14 attending each event – 2 trauma physicians, 3 paramedics and 9 firefighters/EMTs. Team members have an average of 20 years of experience in their respective areas. The safety team is recognized for its high standards and high performance and this problem will be addressed.”
As you can see in the video above, it took the safety team an extended period of time to get De Silvestro out of the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing machine and extinguish the flames. The Swiss rookie suffered some burns as a result of the incident.
Video credit: MT89Motorsports on YouTube.
