Simon Pagenaud relied on his lucky star to walk away unscathed from a monumental high-speed crash in Saturday's pre-qualifying practice session for this weekend's Honda Indy 200 IndyCar round at Mid-Ohio.
The French driver reported a brake failure on his Meyer Shank Racing machine as he approached Mid-Ohio's Turn 4, his car veering off course in the gravel trap which led to seven full somersaults and to "the wildest ride" in his career.
"It was a hell of a ride for sure," Pagenaud said. "Something broke and I couldn't slow down. I tried to make the corner anyways, I was like, 'Maybe I can.'
"I know that gravel is (trouble). Michael Andretti has done it (in 1998). I guess I'm joining another legend, so that's cool.
"But I was just trying to bail out. It's downhill, which is nuts. Basically, the car took off. I hit the gravel and it just rolled.
"So, just glad I didn't go over the tyre wall and so glad we have the aeroscreen. I'm really thankful for IndyCar and the aeroscreen safety."
The 2019 Indy 500 winner was evaluated and released by IndyCar's medical team, but wasn't cleared to return to racing on Saturday. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday morning.
Scary incident in practice 2 for @simonpagenaud.
Pagenaud has been seen and released. #INDYCAR // #Honda200 pic.twitter.com/0tmi9IOgGs
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 1, 2023
