Legge still feels “horrible” about Wilson Indy 500 crash in practice
Katherine Legge says she still feels “horrible” about the “awful situation” that injured Stefan Wilson in Indy 500 practice, putting him out of this Sunday’s race.
Wilson suffered a fractured vertebra in Monday’s crash, which required surgery on Wednesday night, but he is determined to make a full recovery and return to contest the race next year with his Cusick Motorsports/Dreyer and Reinbold team.
Graham Rahal will sub for him on Sunday, and Legge has requested to see Wilson in hospital as he recovers from surgery.
“Stef and I have been team-mates before and friends for a long time,” said Legge. “I texted him, but he didn’t have his phone, but a mutual friend of ours says he’s in good spirits and wants people to see him after the race, so my thoughts and prayers are with him.”
Legge returned to the track in her repaired Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car and was 29th fastest in Friday’s final practice on Carb Day.
Katherine Legge, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
Legge admits that she did question herself as to whether she was at fault for Monday’s crash, which happened at Turn 1 as a cluster of cars checked up in front of them.
When asked about the cause of the crash, Legge said: “Was it something that I did wrong? I hit the back of Stef, and you always think if you’re the person who did the hitting it’s on you.
“But I didn’t know they were checking up in front of him, it’s not an excuse, I just didn’t know. I was already lifting, I was under 220mph, I was in fourth gear instead of sixth, I never experienced them checking up on the brakes like that before.
“You also just can’t see that far ahead. You can’t see the one in front of the car ahead. Other drivers said they noticed similar things, but I still feel horrible about the whole situation.
“I just didn’t expect some cars to be doing 170mph instead of 225 all of a sudden – and it’s not like you can slam the brakes on in an IndyCar mid-corner, because the brakes are so far away [the brake pads are intentionally held away from the discs, to avoid unwanted friction – Ed], it was just an awful situation.
“At least in the race that isn’t going to happen, everyone is going to be going as fast as possible.”
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