Q&A: Adrian Fernandez.

Adrian Fernandez was injured in the spectacular first-lap accident at Surfers Paradise last Sunday, but still managed to take questions when the pre-Fontana media call came around.

Merrill Cain:
We welcome Adrian Fernandez, owner of Fernandez Racing and driver of the #51 Tecate Quaker State Telmex Honda-Lola. He was injured in the opening lap of the Honda Indy 300 and suffered two minor thoracic fractures in his neck as a result of the crash. Adrian will miss this Sunday's CART race at California Speedway, and his status is still in doubt for the final race in Mexico City, a race that's very important to him and all of the race fans in Mexico.

Adrian, how are you feeling and do you think there is a chance that you'll be able to compete in Mexico City in a few weeks?

Adrian Fernandez:
I don't feel too good. In fact, I feel pretty stiff. I have a broken neck and as for the chances of racing in Mexico, right now we don't know. It's just a matter of waiting for [CART orthopaedic consultant] Terry [Trammell] and for the doctors to see what's going to happen.

MC:
Talk to us about the accident itself. You were involved in a pretty serious one earlier this year in Vancouver that resulted in a hairline fracture of the hip. Can you talk about that one too? Do you feel any ill effects from that injury still? Was [Surfers] one of the worst crashes you've been in? It looked to the naked eye like one of the worst crashes we've seen in recent history...

AF:
It was pretty bad. It was unfortunate because it was something that could have been avoided. We never should have started this race, that's for one. Basically, when Mario [Dominguez] hit [Tora] Takagi, he launched him into the air, and basically Takagi landed on top of my head. That's when he fractured my two vertebrae - T2 and T3. That was one of the most serious accidents, although Vancouver was also very serious.

It was just unfortunate. Like I say, when we started the race, I could see absolutely nothing. I couldn't see the racetrack, I could not see the grandstands, the walls - anything. It was absolutely stupid to start this race, to be honest.

MC:
Mother Nature didn't do us any favours over the weekend....

AF:
No.

MC:
Max Papis will be stepping into the car to replace you this weekend in Fontana. You raced Max earlier in the year when you were injured at Mid-Ohio. Talk about Max and what he brings to the table...

AF:
Max was with us in Mid-Ohio. He's a good driver, and he has a lot of experience. It was the logical choice for us to get him back into the car, which he's going to be working again with his engineers like he was working at the beginning of the year, which is Dave Watson. He will feel like at home. He's very experienced in this type of track, and I feel pretty confident he will do a very good job for us.

Q:
Has there ever been another period in your racing career where you've had so much bad luck in terms of injuries?

AF:
No, not really, not really. It's unfortunate because, in these accidents, I've been a victim of bad situations. Things happen sometimes in life like that. There's nothing you can do. I mean, I just could not believe, there are so many cars out on the track, the only one that this car is flying on top of is mine. Just one of those things. It really destroyed my steering wheel. Very close to having my head taken off my body, it was so close. I've never been so unlucky in this type of event. It's just how it goes sometimes. We just have to keep doing our best. Hopefully, next year will be a little bit cleaner.

Q:
It might be a good time to bring up the point, with you guys being in such great physical condition, I think anybody who wasn't in such good physical shape probably would still be recovering from the crash in Vancouver. The fact that you are in such good shape, that is really going to speed along your recovery...

AF:
Absolutely. That really helps lot. That helped me in all my injuries, when I broke my wrist, when I broke my hip. It's something that definitely helps. I hope that type of thing will help me so I can race in Mexico.

Q:
What was going through your mind when you realised what was happening?

AF:
Well, as soon as we started the race, I said we're in trouble, because we could not see anything. Visibility was absolutely zero. I was pretty afraid that I was going to hit somebody or somebody was going to hit me. Eventually that's what happened, somebody hit me, Jimmy [Vasser] hit me. It's not his fault, it's just he couldn't see also. After that, it was just a matter of waiting. You just close your eyes and wait. People hitting you, hitting you, hitting you...

Suddenly, everything stopped on the track. For a while, nothing happened. Then I heard that apparently Mario was like two, three seconds behind, and suddenly he was the last guy to hit. When he hit, apparently he hit pretty hard. He was coming a pretty good speed. He hit pretty hard with Tora. As soon as he hit him, he broke his hip - and Tora went and landed on top of my head. That moment, to see him, when he was in the air, landing on my head, it was a very scary moment because I could see that it was at a bad angle. His roll bar was really hitting my face. For a moment, I thought I was not going to be able to survive this one.

Q:
Talking about Max, once again you have reached out to him. Is there any chance of putting Max in another car within your stable for next season?

AF:
Right now, we're working on several things. Max is obviously one of our top priorities. If there is something we can do, definitely we will put Max in the series. Max, I think, is somebody we need in the series. That's why we considered him to replace us again this weekend. He's a guy that has a lot of experience, has a good name. It would be a good asset to keep him in CART, definitely.

MC:
We want to clarify, as Adrian pointed out, that Tora Takagi was the other driver injured in the first lap accident. He suffered two small fractures of the pelvis. It is hopeful that he'll be able to compete this weekend. But it is another testament to the shape you guys are in and the safety, the ability to protect you in the cars as best we can.

Adrian, we will see you in Fontana this weekend?

AF:
I'll be there all weekend.

MC:
Then we're looking forward to seeing you. Thanks for joining us today. We wish you well in your recovery.

AF:
Thank you.