Simona de Silvestro’s crash during Thursday’s practice will go down as one of the most frightening in IMS history. As soon as you saw the replay of it, it was very easy to think about what happened to Mike Conway on race day a year ago.
Thank goodness she walked away from the car. In fact, she only sustained burns on her hands and was in good spirits as she was back in the team garage hours later. (It was the second time she has received burns from a crash in the IZOD IndyCar Series—Texas 2010.)
The credit this time for keeping her from further injury can go to how well the cars are designed to protect the driver.
Yes, in this instance, there were parts of the car that malfunctioned, which obviously led to the crash and led to the fire later on. But, the main “cocoon” of the car stayed in tact when the car hit the catch fence. That is the number one thing that needs to go right for the drivers when they crash.
And there’s only so much you can say about Simona’s attitude after the incident.
She was back at the track and tweeting to fans she would have the “Mickey Mouse” gloves off her soon. Not to compare the two intentionally, but would Danica Patrick be back at the track so soon and have as good of an attitude as Simona does? I don’t think so.
Now the question turns to if Simona can qualify for the race. For starters, she has to get the okay to be allowed to get back in the car from IZOD IndyCar Series officials. Should she get clearance, how quickly will she be able to get back to speed?
Unfortunately, Simona crashed her brand new ride Thursday and it’s totaled. Now, she will of course have to use a backup car…a car that is a 2003 model and is much slower! But, if anyone can make this work and qualify for the race, it is her.
If Swiss Miss is able to just make the field for the race this year, it will go down as one of the most remarkable stories in the Speedway’s long history.