Rookie Robert Wickens has crashed during practice for the Indianapolis 500, another big blow to the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team.
The Canadian driver hit the outside wall Monday coming out of the second turn on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval. He hit the wall again in the back straightaway before rolling to a stop.
REPLAY: @robertwickens has been checked, released and cleared from the infield hospital ? following this incident.
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? @verizon INDYCAR Mobile#INDYCAR // #Indy500 // #ThisIsMay pic.twitter.com/ezXn0D3XZq— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 21, 2018
Wickens was checked and released from the infield medical center. He has been cleared to drive, but the No. 6 Honda-powered car had heavy damage to the right side.
« I was just trying to slow down and get it under control, » Wickens said, according to the Indianapolis Star. « The car just kind of went to the right and head-on into the wall halfway down the backstraight, so it’s a bummer. Obviously no one wants it, especially this close to the race. But lesson learned, I guess. It just happened out of nowhere. »
Teammate James Hinchcliffe did not qualify for Sunday’s race, and Sam Schmidt has not yet found a way to get his top driver into Sunday’s race. Hinchcliffe is fifth in the points standings, and missing the double-points race would severely damage any championship hopes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/23563597/robert-wickens-crashes-indianapolis-500-practice
