 Andretti Feels Lucky to Survive Horror Crash Thursday April 24th, 2003
Andretti ran over debris from an earlier accident involving Kenny Brack and was flipped into the air, hitting the outside retaining fence before landing on four wheels. "I'm very lucky indeed," said Andretti, who had not driven at Indinapolis since 1994. "It just happened so quickly. Something happened to Brack's car and he spun and hit the wall. There was debris all over the place and I had no warning whatsoever. I came off turn one and there was debris everywhere. "What I hit wasn't big but it was solid and it was able to launch me and all I saw was sky. It was just one of those things. It happens and you know it's unfortunate - I feel worse about the car but I just couldn't avoid it." Andretti's son Michael, who co-owns the Andretti-Green team, is competing in his final Indianapolis 500 race on May 10th before joining his father in retirement. The crash is the third unfortunate accident to hit the Andretti-Green racing set-up in the last two weeks. Scot Dario Franchitti has been ruled out of the Indy 500 after suffering spinal injuries in a motorcycle accident, with British teammate Dan Wheldon set to deputise. Team driver Tony Kanaan is also battling to recover full fitness after suffering a radial fracture in his left arm while fighting for the lead of the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 last weekend.
Published at 10:00:09 GMT
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American racing legend Mario Andretti miraculously escaped injury after crashing his car at over 200mph while testing at Indianapolis on Wednesday - after making a one-off comeback at the age of 63.
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