Justin Wilson injured in Fontana crash
Justin Wilson spent the night in hospital following a mid-race crash in the final race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Reported as awake and alert immediately after the crash, Wilson checked in with fans via Twitter on Sunday morning. "[Thanks] for all the well wishes," he posted. "I'm doing ok. I [have been] told 3 fractures to the pelvis and so far they believe no surgery needed."
"Justin is in good spirits, but a lot of pain from his 63 G (lateral g-forces) crash," commented team owner Dale Coyne on the team's Twitter page. "Doctors say he will be 6 - 8 weeks of non-load bearing on his right leg before he can start rehab. We wish Justin a speedy recovery."
Wilson's car spun after becoming unsettled running over one of the seams on the surface of the track on lap 110 at turn 2 on the two-mile oval. Wilson tried to save the car but finally spun, and ended up being hit on the front right side of the car by Tristan Vautier who had no way of avoiding the #19 Dale Coyne Racing car.
The impact left Wilson with non-operable pelvic fractures and a small pulmonary contusion. Wilson also complained at the scene of lower back pain and was carefully removed from the wrecked car, placed on a stretcher and transported by ground ambulance to the nearby Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for further observation
Justin's younger brother Stefan, also a racing driver in the Firestone Indy Lights championship, went with him to the hospital and later tweeted that an initial CAT scan had shown no problems with Wilson's back.
"Had catscan, all back looked okay on this scan," tweeted Stefan. "Small fracture to pelvis. Will have MRI next to check back further. 62 lat G's!"
That will be a relief to Wilson, who suffered a compression fracture to his T-5 vertebra in a seemingly innocuous practice accident at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2011 that sidelined him from racing for the remainder of the year.
Vautier was uninjured in the accident and was soon released from the in-field care centre after being checked over by the series' medical staff. "There was a cloud of smoke and I didn't see him before I hit him," said Vautier afterwards.
Josef Newgarden managed to swerve in time to avoid Wilson, but ended up hitting the wall instead and additionally collecting Oriol Servi? in the process. Neither driver was injured in the collision.
"I guess I was the first guy to see him spinning," said Newgarden. "It seemed kind of bad on my right side. The big thing for me was just to get out of his way. I didn't want to T-Bone him. Unfortunately I collected Servi?."
"I was just behind, and I saw him getting loose," added Servi? from his vantage point. Josef tried to miss Justin and collected me. It was just one of those things where we're all fighting for real estate and what can you do."
IndyCar medical director Dr Michael Olinger issued a statement at 11pm local time reporting Wilson's injuries and added that the driver would be kept in hospital overnight for further observation before being revaluated and hopefully discharged.
