BRAZILIAN driver Christian Fittipaldi suffered a double fracture of the right leg in an horrific accident which forced a restart of the Gold Coast IndyCar race in Australia yesterday.
The race had to be restarted because some drivers had failed to finish the first lap before the accident.
Travelling at more than 150 miles per hour, Fittipaldi's Swift Ford appeared to have been bumped from behind at the first chicane on the main straight at the end of his first lap.
His car hit the wall and travelled for some 400 metres before stopping with debris strewn over a wide area.
Medical staff lifted a conscious Fittipaldi from the car after about 10 minutes and he was taken by stretcher to the track medical centre before being admitted to the Gold Coast Hospital.
The left hand side of Fittipaldi's car was sheered off through the impact of the smash. Debris filled the air and the Brazilian's Newman-Haas team-mate Michael Andretti narrowly avoided the flying fragments.
Brazilian Gil de Ferran pulled up after the crash with a broken front suspension.
Defending champion Jimmy Vasser questioned the restart which would allow arch rival Canadian Paul Tracy, who ran into a barrier in an unrelated incident, to use a new car. But he need not have worried as Tracy was forced out of the restarted race after 41 laps.
America's Scott Pruett took the honours, edging home ahead of Canada's Greg Moore by just half a second with Michael Andretti 11 seconds back in third place.
