Why IndyCar's 2020 innovations had contrasting fortunes at Iowa
The frightening accident involving Colton Herta and Rinus VeeKay at Iowa was the first major test of IndyCar's new aeroscreen, and initial positive reports were welcome on a weekend that a new qualifying format left observers with mixed feelings
It's hard to know if there is valid cause to say that IndyCar's new-for-2020 aeroscreen saved Rinus VeeKay's life last Friday night at Iowa Speedway, because it's impossible to know what would have happened had it not been there. This writer recalls several accidents in open-wheel racing where severe head trauma appeared a worryingly likely prospect, only for the driver to escape with nothing worse than a headache.
Among those that stick out are Patrick Tambay's Haas Lola launching over Martin Brundle's Tyrrell at the 1986 Monaco Grand Prix, and Nelson Piquet's Lotus in blinding spray running into the back of Piercarlo Ghinzani's Osella at Adelaide in 1989, jacking it up to where the Italian's car rode up the nose of the Lotus. Both Brundle and Piquet were left with tyre marks on their crash helmets.
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