Champ Car Racer Hurt at Road America

[Dutton]

A deer found its way onto the track at Road America yesterday just about the same time Cristiano Da Matta came by at speed. You can guess what happened next. Following surgery at a local hospital, he's being watched in ICU.

Suggest you keep him in your thoughts, perhaps more if you're so inclined.

Regards,

T.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/racing/08/03/damatta.crash.ap

 

[Dan W]

Lets hope he pulls through, another article stated he was doing about 180mph and a large deer struck the right front corner of the car and and then hit the cockpit area. The car remained at full throttle and crashed into the tire wall. Cristiano is always very pleasant and polite off the track.

 

[Howard Jones]

The champ car website says he "is to recover" but sill in intensive care. These always remind me of Mark Donahue. The difference nowadays is the trip to the hospital is nearly always mandatory. Mark died of head injuries several hours after his shunt when he collapsed on the pit lane. If I remember correctly he would have fully recovered if he had been transported to the hospital immediately after his crash.