IndyCar statement on de Silvestro incident response

(Originally posted to Planet-IRL.com.)

The following statement was released by the Indy Racing League concerning the response of the Holmatro Safety Team to the accident of Simona de Silvestro during Saturday night’s Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway:

First and foremost, we make the safety of our competitors a priority when on the track. The primary hose on the series’ safety truck malfunctioned, so the safety team had to go to the backup of the bottles. All equipment is checked prior to going on track before every race.  We are examining why the hose malfunctioned to ensure this equipment failure will not happen again.

Our Safety Team consists of approximately 24 highly-trained safety personnel with a minimum of 14 attending each event – 2 trauma physicians, 3 paramedics and 9 firefighters/EMTs. Team members have an average of 20 years of experience in their respective areas. The safety team is recognized for its high standards and high performance and this problem will be addressed.