Indy 500: Work continues on de Silvestro’s post-fire rebuild

Andretti Autosport’s month of May has gotten off to a busier start than anticipated. Tuesday was especially tough as a big fuel fire ravaged the back of Simona de Silvestro’s No. 29 Honda at 2:07 p.m., and by 5:55 p.m., Justin Wilson’s No. 25 Honda was in need of an engine change after the 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 expired.

Getting Wilson’s car ready for action today was handled with ease by his Andretti mechanics, but resurrecting de Silvestro’s charred Dallara DW12 will take more time. The team made the quick decision to load the car into a small trailer and transport the car to its nearby shop where an immediate inspection began.

According to Rob Edwards, Andretti Autosport’s director of race operations and engineering, the teardown revealed a major workload would be required to get the No. 29 back in running order.

“Everything from the rear bulkhead back is getting replaced,” Edwards told RACER Wednesday morning.

A fresh engine will be fitted to de Silvestro’s car after the previous engine has all of its wiring, electronics, and carbon fiber ducting burned beyond repair. The Dallara DW12 tub was not damaged in the fire caused by a faulty refueling buckeye O-ring that allowed ethanol to spill onto the back of the car. Once new bodywork and running gear is fitted, Edwards expects to see the Swiss driver back in action on Thursday.

“We will be on track tomorrow,” he confirmed.

Stream the reconstruction process from Andretti.tv here: http://andrettitv.com/pages/watch?type=livestream&vss=cd67ed3b-3c40-45b2-a446-8b0ba94c6261