Wirth out for the season??

[cameraman]

Broken thoracic vertebrae?

What the hell happened?


Prior to the race, first-year driver Andreas Wirth was injured in a morning practice session and was unable to compete in the event. According to series Medical Director Dr. Chris Pinderski, Wirth suffered minor fractures of his T6 and T8 thoracic vertebrae when his car made contact with Zwolsman's machine at the end of the practice. Wirth, ranked second in the points entering the race, was slated to start second today but series medical personnel would not let him compete due to the injuries. Wirth will be re-examined on Monday to determine if he can race in the final event of the year.

[FCYTravis]

Sounds like he hit something really really hard... not joking, just don't have any more information... it was a practice incident, hopefully they will show footage during the race telecast so we can make some sense of this... or maybe someone in the Atlantics paddock knows more?

RAm is a very high-speed track... if you're gonna get hurt crashing, it's not surprising to me that it would be there.

[JoeBob]

From the Sunday Morning Warmup press release: http://www.toyotaatlantic.com/News/Article.asp?ID=1882


He turned a top time of 2:03.194 (118.291 mph) to lead this morning's warmup but with just two minutes remaining in the session, Wirth made contact with the car of Charles Zwolsman (#11 Condor Motorsports) at the exit of Turn 1. Zwolsman had slowed suddenly on course to avoid the car of Bobby Wilson (#5 Ocala Gran Prix/BW Race Schools) who had gone into the grass coming out of the turn and crossed the course before hitting the inside wall at the exit of the turn. All three cars were damaged in the accident.


The damage to the cars involved in the incident is significant, but repairable. The #11 car suffered damage to the front left suspension and the complete rear of the car including the entire back wing. The gearbox is also damaged. The #9 car has front and rear wing damage and the left rear suspension and wheel were also impacted by the crash. On the #8 car, the front wing and nose cone was damaged along with the right front corner and the steering rack. The crews from all the teams will work up until to the start of the race to repair the damage in hopes that all three cars will be able to compete in today's event.

Sounds like he Rear Ended Zwolsman fairly significantly.

[swift]

he didn't get medical clearance to race @ montreal.
link to story (http://www.toyotaatlantic.com/News/Article.asp?ID=1888)

this sucks.

[RHR_Fan]

That does suck. At least his injuries aren't that severe and he's walking. Could have been worse...

~Nicole

[dando]

Cork: "It's Legge's fault." ;)

Sucks after a nice run in Denver. Hope he heals up fine.

-Kevin

[Sean O'Gorman]

I just finished watching the tape of the race, and I found it really odd that he'd be standing in pitlane in his driving suit even though he wasn't even racing. Really odd. I guess it just shows how badly he wanted to race.

[SteveH]

I just finished watching the tape of the race, and I found it really odd that he'd be standing in pitlane in his driving suit even though he wasn't even racing. Really odd. I guess it just shows how badly he wanted to race.

I saw that too, I think he had just gotten back from the hospital and hadn't had time to change.