Two Indy Racing League Indy Car drivers had an accident in Saturday morning’s practice session at Infineon Raceway, injuring the drivers and basically destroying their cars. They were each transported separately to Santa Rosa Memorial.
WILL POWER/Penske Racing has L2 and L4 spinal fractures, is awaiting a MRI and is being kept overnight. NELSON PHILIPPE/Conquest Racing has an open fracture of his left foot and is undergoing surgery as this is being written, and is being kept overnight.
Penske Racing started working on Power’s backup car before Power’s condition was known. Now the team will put it together and put it in the truck.
The car of E.J. VISO/HVM Racing was repaired. When he clipped Philippe’s car before Power hit Philippe, Viso’s left rear wheel and possibly suspension was damaged. The crew worked on it and Viso was able to qualify.
In advance of the 2008 IRL season, Indy Car mandated all cars to add side intrusion panels. They exceed FIA’s minimum standards. The panel is a seven-millimeter thick anti-intrusion barrier which improves the resistance to penetration of the chassis. This panel is made uup of 15 layers of Zylon, which is bonded to the existing tub.
According to Wikipedia, Zylon is a trademarked name for a range of thermoset polyurethane synthetic polymer materials, and is used in situations which require very high strength with excellent thermal stability.