First round provokes angry reactions at Pocono



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The ABC Supply 500 in Pocono was stopped after a single round of competition, after a wreck of 5 cars.

On his way to Turn 2, Alexander Rossi, second at the start, pulled back at the start and was sandwiched between Takuma Sato's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda on the outside and Ryan Hunter-Reay's Andretti Autosport Honda on the outside. Inside, the trio making contact and sliding in the inner wall. , with Sato bouncing off the track and picking up Honda's Chip Ganassi Racing Honda from Felix Rosenqvist, which was then thrown backwards towards the scary fencing barrier reminiscent of the devastating fall of Robert Wickens at this race last year. Fortunately, this time, the car did not get up and did not break through the fence, violently striking the track.

Wickens, watching from home, has set his sights on social media:

Meanwhile, Sato found himself face to face with Hunter-Reay's car, while James Hinchcliffe was also caught in chaos. The first rescue efforts naturally focused on Sato, before the Japanese pilot was able to cope without being injured. Rosenqvist took longer to come off and, after being examined at the nursing center, he was transported by road to a local hospital for further evaluation of what IndyCar called "injuries only". not putting his life in danger ", although he noted that Rosenqvist had gone on foot. l & # 39; ambulance.

Rossi, angry, tried to contain his emotions as he was the first to leave the medical center: "I did not have a good start and it was for me. but then we were three wide and Sato was outside. I can not begin to understand, after last year, why Takuma thinks that any such conduct is acceptable. Transforming two cars at this speed into a bend in a 500km race is outrageous and disturbing. "

"We have a few days to bounce back and then win the race at this point. That's all that matters. "

"I'm sorry for the guys," admitted a contrite Sato. "Ryan and I were obviously turning (on) turn 1, and it looks like Alexander started slowly and we went left and right (of him). I thought I was clear and unfortunately we got together.

Hunter-Reay was also angry. "It's ridiculous, thank goodness, everyone is fine, you know, I thought we learned our lesson here, a 500-mile ride." From my point of view, I I had a nice clear race on Rossi, I was almost three-quarters of his passing, then suddenly, out of nowhere, I'm back, I saw myself hit the inside wall and I saw myself back in I could see the terrain coming up as I stepped back in and I thought, man, that it could be really bad, and then I saw Felix climb into the fence and we repaired the fence again … "

Hunter-Reay, however, noted another factor that, in his opinion, could have played in the wreckage: "It is so important to win positions at the start, because it is a track position race. It was not like before, where, if you had a good car, you could use it. I arrived three times at the back here and I went to the front. We can not do that now, so I think a lot of guys have felt the pressure of landing spots at the beginning … and all that at the grenadiere. "

Hinchcliffe also had harsh words after being caught in the wreck – during which a flying debris seemed to hit the attenuator in front of his cockpit.

"We were heading towards turn 3 of width three; I thought it was probably not a good idea and I went back, "said pilot Arrow Schmidt Peterson. "I could not see exactly what had started, but the wreck fell inside. I slowed down well, but slipped where I was and I had nowhere to go.

"It's zero. I'm happy that everyone is fine, but I do not know how many times we have to do it before people understand that you can attack anything you want, but it does not give you a chance to win if you are in the fence. . It's just crazy, man. It's such a waste of time and money to compete in a 500-mile race and half of the top 10 are in the closing of Turn 2 ".

The race resumed after 45 minutes to repair the fence over Turn 2.

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