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Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Santino Ferrucci became the first driver to have a significant crash in practice for the Indianapolis 500, and has been sent to hospital for checks on a ‘minor’ left foot injury.
Ferrucci – who left full-time IndyCar competition to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021 – has returned for this year’s Indy 500 only.
He had just gone second quickest on the third day of practice, when he lost the rear end of his car early in Turn 2 and hit the wall rear on.
REPLAY: @SantinoFerrucci has been checked and will be sent to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation following this incident at @IMS.#INDYCAR // #INDY500 pic.twitter.com/CpQa1zf0Vf
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 20, 2021
In onboard radio broadcast by Peacock TV, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Conor Daly implied Ferrucci had been suffering from oversteer, saying he “saw it coming” after following Ferrucci for a number of laps.
After getting out of the car Ferrucci struggled to put weight on his left leg and was then lifted either side by two members of the AMR Safety Team, who were on hand in a matter of seconds after the incident.
Ferrucci has been transferred to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for further checks, but reportedly has a minor left leg injury according to IMS medical director Geoffrey Billows. He is able to put weight on that leg.
After an incident in Turn 2, #IMS Medical Director Dr. Billows talked with @katie_kiel to update the status of @SantinoFerrucci.#ThisIsMay | #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/LExklnXgPz
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 20, 2021
Ferrucci is expected to return to the car and Billows ‘guessed’ that could be tomorrow, and the good news is the team believes it can repair the machine.
UPDATE: Ferrucci has been cleared to drive in ‘Fast Friday’ practice
Ferrucci is highly rated ahead of this year’s event driving for the reigning winners in RLL, and having scored rookie of the year in 2019, adding fourth in 2020 both with Dale Coyne Racing.
He has managed only 105 laps so far over the course of the three 2021 practice days, one of the fewest totals in the series this week.
It took less than 15 minutes to clear the track and practice has resumed with Daly fastest and 90 minutes remaining in the session.
No other driver has crashed so far in practice, although Colton Herta brushed the wall after narrowly avoiding a slow-moving Scott McLaughlin.
Herta blamed Ferrucci’s team Rahal Letterman Lanigan, who were seemingly orchestrating a photo opportunity of all three cars on-track, which is what led to McLaughlin slowing down.
