While practicing for his first Indy 500 race, former 2015 Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot slammed into the wall at the exit of Turn 1 after losing control of his car.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan rookie benefited fully from the new domed skids that have been added to cars this year to catch the air in the event a car is generating lift during a crash.
“It was the biggest hit I’ve ever had and it’s not a great feeling,” said the 22-year old. “I saw the car lift on the video replay but when it happens so quick I didn’t really feel it get off the ground for a brief moment.”
Indeed the No.16 race car did lift off for a split second after the initial impact, but the skid plates and flaps did their job very well.
“You feel the hit and hope the car comes to a stop pretty soon. The domed skids and rear flaps are on the car now and they both helped,” added the rookie driver in a recent interview.
As for what caused him to lose control, Pigot said that “it was instant – I didn’t have any warning,” which is exactly what it looks like from an outsider’s perspective as well.
“It snapped and I went around. So I’m not really sure what happened there, so we’ll just have to go and look to see what caused the spin.”