INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, October 25 – IndyCar drivers and officials met Monday to discuss ways of making the series safer, eight days after English racer Dan Wheldon died in a 15-car crash in Las Vegas.
“How we react to this is critical, and we’re very encouraged with what happened today in terms of ideas,” four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti of Scotland said.
“Finger-pointing is not going to do any good at all, and we’re all unified going forward in one direction.”
Franchitti was a pallbearer at Wheldon’s funeral in Florida on Saturday, and attended a public memorial service for the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner in Indianapolis on Sunday.
He said he and other drivers are determined to try to make positive changes in the wake of the tragedy, although Brazilian pilot Tony Kanaan acknowledged that risk would always be a part of the sport.
“We’re not going to make motor racing 100 percent safe, that’s a fact,” Kanaan said. “But there are things that we can do, hopefully, to make it better, make it safer.”
Those who attended the meeting declined to get into specifics of what was discussed, but Franchitti called the talks — also attended by IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard — “productive”.
“Everything is on the table, and I think today was a very productive discussion,” Franchitti said.
