Fittipaldi suffers leg injuries in Spa crash

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Pietro Fittipaldi's hopes of contesting his first Indy 500 might have to wait until 2019 after a heavy crash in qualifying for the FIA WEC's opening round at Spa Francorchamps.

Fittipaldi suffered injuries to both legs in the impact at Raidillon behind the wheel of his DragonSpeed BR1 Gibson LMP1 car.

“At 15:52 today, Friday 4 May 2018, the No.10 DragonSpeed BR Engineering BR1 left the track at high speed at Raidillon, Circuit de Spa Francorchamps.   The incident occurred during the LMP qualifying session for the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps,” read a statement from the FIA.

“The car was being driven by Pietro Fittipaldi of Brazil.

“The driver, who was conscious at all times, was attended immediately by the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Medical Services and FIA Medical Delegate Jacques Tropenat, extracted from the car and taken by helicopter to the Centre Hospitalier de la Citadelle de Liège with suspected fractures to both legs. He is accompanied by the DragonSpeed Team Manager and his condition is not life-threatening.”

Prior to his crash, Fittipaldi was scheduled to practice and qualify the No. 19 DCR Honda as teammate to Sebastien Bourdais, Conor Daly, and Pippa Mann. It’s unclear whether Coyne will look to run the No. 19 with another driver, or pull the entry from the field of 35 entries received for the 102nd Indy 500.