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 into a 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.
