Following the accident in which Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro suffered a burnt hand, her team HVM Racing was appalled by the time it took the IndyCar safety officials to intervene at the Texas Speedway.
The young lady hit the wall in last Saturday night’s Firestone 550K and immediately her car caught fire before sliding down on the side of the track where it took the emergency personnel at least 30 seconds before they were able to extract her.
While the safety crew arrived quickly at the scene, it took a lot of unnecessary time to get the fire extinguishers to work properly, exposing de Silvestro to the flames that resulted in a burn to her hand.
The water supply from the first fire truck on the scene failed to operate; meaning only hand-held extinguishers were deployed as they battled to free her from the fiercely burning car.
"The safety crew should be ashamed of themselves," said team boss Keith Wiggins, “That was a scary moment and we are glad she is alright."
"My hand is a little bit burned, I couldn't get out quickly enough," de Silvestro explained. "The car caught on fire and it wasn't really extinguishing."
The young lady hit the wall in last Saturday night’s Firestone 550K and immediately her car caught fire before sliding down on the side of the track where it took the emergency personnel at least 30 seconds before they were able to extract her.
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| Photo: IndyCar |
While the safety crew arrived quickly at the scene, it took a lot of unnecessary time to get the fire extinguishers to work properly, exposing de Silvestro to the flames that resulted in a burn to her hand.
The water supply from the first fire truck on the scene failed to operate; meaning only hand-held extinguishers were deployed as they battled to free her from the fiercely burning car.
"The safety crew should be ashamed of themselves," said team boss Keith Wiggins, “That was a scary moment and we are glad she is alright."
"My hand is a little bit burned, I couldn't get out quickly enough," de Silvestro explained. "The car caught on fire and it wasn't really extinguishing."