Scott Dixon's horror crash at yesterday's Indianapolis 500 brought back memories of a similar incident that had devastating consequences but a lasting impact on the sport.
The 36-year-old Dixon climbed unassisted from his car and was basically unharmed despite his Chip Gannasi Honda launching into the air, flipping, crashing intoa safety fence and disintegrating at somewhere near 350k/hr.
In October 2011 Dixon's close friend Dan Wheldon was killed in an eerily similar incident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Dixon was a pallbearer at the Englishman's funeral and remains in close contact with his widow and children.
It was one of IndyCars' darkest days but that incident helped pave the way for a safer car as the series invested in radical new designs to try and combat a scenario like Wheldon faced. That work may have saved Dixon yesterday.
The Dallara chassis DW12 - named after Wheldon - which all IndyCars use, features a special safety tub that has been used in single seater motorsport since the 1960s. It is a carbon-fibre tub that surrounds the driver and is designed to withstand a heavy crash and remain intact while wings, wheels and panel work break off in a major smash. This is essential in oval racing where there are no run-off areas like we see in Formula 1 and circuit racing.
On top of that the HANS device, which is used in all major forms of motorsport, prevented Dixon's head from bouncing around as the car catapulted in every which way from travelling at 350km/h until it became stationery. A HANS device attaches to the driver's helmet to stop the effects of whiplash and provide support to the head and neck.
Dixon also helped protect himself from major injury by taking his hands off the steering wheel and tucking them inside the car. Even a minor accident could see hands suffer significant injury if they remain locked on the steering wheel and absorbing the impact. While to the untrained eye it appears Dixon remarkably escaped death the reality is these cars are designed to withstand that sort of accident.
