Simon Pagenaud walked away from a massive airborne IndyCar practice crash in which he rolled nine times on his way to being pinned up against a barrier at Mid-Ohio’s Turn 4.
The Meyer Shank Racing driver went straight on at the end of the longest straight on the track and was sideways and airborne already at the corner entry before touching down in the gravel and flipping violently across the long gravel-trap run-off, before coming to a halt against the barriers.
A wild ride for @simonpagenaud.
Another angle of Simon's scary incident from Practice 2 at @Mid_Ohio.#INDYCAR // #Honda200 pic.twitter.com/gtW6WFLrtp
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 1, 2023
Pagenaud got out of the car relatively quickly after members of the AMR Safety Crew arrived on the scene rapidly, and once he was extricated, he sat for a moment to catch his breath before walking to the medical car with a customary wave to the crowds.
Although he was initially optimistic he would be fine to participate in qualifying later on Saturday, IndyCar’s medical team has not cleared him to drive again for now and will re-evaluate him on Sunday morning to see if he can race from the back of the grid.
The team has finished preparing team-mate Helio Castroneves’ back-up car for Pagenaud to drive providing he is cleared, but if he isn’t, Conor Daly has been chosen as a possible replacement.
Pagenaud said his first thought as the crash began was “oh s**t, this is going to hurt!” and was convinced something had broken on the car. He compared it to a similar crash for Michael Andretti in the 1998 CART race at the track.
“Something broke, for sure, I couldn’t slow down,” Pagenaud continued.
“I tried to make the corner anyway. I know the gravel is deadly. Michael Andretti has done it, I guess I’m joining another legend. So that’s cool.
“That was just trying to bail out but it’s downhill, which is nuts.
Ride on board with @simonpagenaud during his scary flip at Mid-Ohio. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/jmO0mxalXz
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 1, 2023
“Basically the car took off, I hit the gravel and it just rolled and rolled.
“I’m glad I didn’t go over the tyre wall and so glad we have the aeroscreen. I’m really thankful for IndyCar and the aeroscreen for safety.”
Pagenaud, the 2016 IndyCar champion and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner is having one of the worst seasons of his career in the points standings at least, lying 24th after seven races with a best finish of 13th.
Will Power was fastest in the session ahead of championship leader Alex Palou, Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon. Rain is expected between now and qualifying but is expected to pass before qualifying itself.
