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IndyCar
MILLER: Cool Under Fire
Simona de Silvestro is one of IndyCar’s best stories in 2010, but she showed us last Saturday night that being cool under fire is also part of her DNA.
De Silvestro earned an "A" for her poise and professionalism during and after the fire. The court of public opinion has given the safety team entrusted with her care a much lower grade. (LAT)
Simona de Silvestro’s speed, race pace, consistency and savvy on the smallest team in the paddock is obviously one of IndyCar’s best stories in 2010.
But she showed us last Saturday night that being cool under fire is also part of her DNA.
The talented 21-year-old from Switzerland escaped a scary encounter with a rescue mission gone wrong after crashing in the Firestone 550K at Texas Motor Speedway.
With her Team Stargate Worlds Dallara ablaze and members of the IndyCar fire crew looking more like the Keystone Kops than their usual efficient selves, de Silvestro remained calm in the chaos.
“I hit the wall, saw the fire and figured it would extinguish itself like most of them seem to do,” she recalled. “When my car stopped (at the bottom of the track in Turn 3), the engine was still running so I shut it off because I figured that would help but it didn’t.
“The fire started burning harder and then it got to the sidepod.”
De Silvestro wasn’t overly concerned at that point.
“I tried not to panic because I saw the safety team and I figured they would just come over and start spraying the sidepod but it never happened,” she continued.
“In all the other crashes I’ve watched, they usually extinguish the fire and then get the driver out. But when that didn’t happen, I thought, ‘this isn’t good.’
“I was trying to get my headrest out of the way so I could get out but it was stuck.”
So the Rookie of the Year at Indianapolis was in harm’s way for almost 40 seconds before being dragged out of the cockpit.
“The problem was that they pulled me sideways and my legs and feet were stuck so that’s why it took a little longer,” she said. “I put my hand down to help push off and that’s when I got burned.
“But it’s only three blisters, so that’s not bad, and it could have been a lot worse.”
De Silvestro’s main concern is for the future of Keith Wiggins’ HVM team, which sports good personnel but a dwindling budget and now a big setback.
“The car is pretty bad, the tub was burned so we’re going to have to go to a much heavier tub (for Iowa) and we’re going to have to try and find some sponsorship.
“But this is a good team and we’ll keep fighting.”
Simona’s situation aside, we need to recognize Wally Dallenbach, who launched CART’s safety team over 30 years ago, the rapid response and care of drivers in open wheel is without peer in motorsports. Alex Zanardi’s life was saved, on the track in Germany in 2001, by Dr. Terry Trammell and CART’s rescue squad stands as the benchmark.
The Holmatro safety team in IndyCar has carried on that tradition and usually responds to any situation with the urgency, protection and professionalism required.
But last Saturday night was unacceptable.
According to eyewitnesses, the first IndyCar worker on the scene of Simona de Silvestro’s blazing car had a kink in his hose and the pump on his truck wasn’t strong enough to drive the water through that kink.
The second person didn’t get the pin out of the extinguisher and there was a delay until he realized that but he damaged the handle while pulling it out, which caused flow problems.
With the fire spreading and no fire bottles properly operating, Indy native Mike Yates finally had the good sense to grab Simona and yank her out of the car.
I reported on WIND TUNNEL last Sunday night that there was also a Texas Motor Speedway crew involved but that was incorrect. The TMS fire truck in Turn 3, just a few yards from de Silvestro’s flaming car, was NEVER called to respond. Instead, IndyCar dispatched one crew from Turn 4 and another from Turn 1 (which eventually put out the fire).
Everyone is entitled to an off night or a mistake but, in this case, a lot of things went bad in a short amount of time.
“Everything went backwards,” commented de Silvestro, who seemed to be much calmer than the people trying to rescue her.
Fortunately, she escaped serious injury but it should be a wakeup call to all involved.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
But she showed us last Saturday night that being cool under fire is also part of her DNA.
The talented 21-year-old from Switzerland escaped a scary encounter with a rescue mission gone wrong after crashing in the Firestone 550K at Texas Motor Speedway.
With her Team Stargate Worlds Dallara ablaze and members of the IndyCar fire crew looking more like the Keystone Kops than their usual efficient selves, de Silvestro remained calm in the chaos.
“I hit the wall, saw the fire and figured it would extinguish itself like most of them seem to do,” she recalled. “When my car stopped (at the bottom of the track in Turn 3), the engine was still running so I shut it off because I figured that would help but it didn’t.
“The fire started burning harder and then it got to the sidepod.”
De Silvestro wasn’t overly concerned at that point.
“I tried not to panic because I saw the safety team and I figured they would just come over and start spraying the sidepod but it never happened,” she continued.
“In all the other crashes I’ve watched, they usually extinguish the fire and then get the driver out. But when that didn’t happen, I thought, ‘this isn’t good.’
“I was trying to get my headrest out of the way so I could get out but it was stuck.”
So the Rookie of the Year at Indianapolis was in harm’s way for almost 40 seconds before being dragged out of the cockpit.
“The problem was that they pulled me sideways and my legs and feet were stuck so that’s why it took a little longer,” she said. “I put my hand down to help push off and that’s when I got burned.
“But it’s only three blisters, so that’s not bad, and it could have been a lot worse.”
De Silvestro’s main concern is for the future of Keith Wiggins’ HVM team, which sports good personnel but a dwindling budget and now a big setback.
“The car is pretty bad, the tub was burned so we’re going to have to go to a much heavier tub (for Iowa) and we’re going to have to try and find some sponsorship.
“But this is a good team and we’ll keep fighting.”
Simona’s situation aside, we need to recognize Wally Dallenbach, who launched CART’s safety team over 30 years ago, the rapid response and care of drivers in open wheel is without peer in motorsports. Alex Zanardi’s life was saved, on the track in Germany in 2001, by Dr. Terry Trammell and CART’s rescue squad stands as the benchmark.
The Holmatro safety team in IndyCar has carried on that tradition and usually responds to any situation with the urgency, protection and professionalism required.
But last Saturday night was unacceptable.
According to eyewitnesses, the first IndyCar worker on the scene of Simona de Silvestro’s blazing car had a kink in his hose and the pump on his truck wasn’t strong enough to drive the water through that kink.
The second person didn’t get the pin out of the extinguisher and there was a delay until he realized that but he damaged the handle while pulling it out, which caused flow problems.
With the fire spreading and no fire bottles properly operating, Indy native Mike Yates finally had the good sense to grab Simona and yank her out of the car.
I reported on WIND TUNNEL last Sunday night that there was also a Texas Motor Speedway crew involved but that was incorrect. The TMS fire truck in Turn 3, just a few yards from de Silvestro’s flaming car, was NEVER called to respond. Instead, IndyCar dispatched one crew from Turn 4 and another from Turn 1 (which eventually put out the fire).
Everyone is entitled to an off night or a mistake but, in this case, a lot of things went bad in a short amount of time.
“Everything went backwards,” commented de Silvestro, who seemed to be much calmer than the people trying to rescue her.
Fortunately, she escaped serious injury but it should be a wakeup call to all involved.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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