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May 31, 2023

Flying tyre strikes car in terrifying Indianapolis 500 accident : PlanetF1

A potentially horrifying moment at the Indianapolis 500 was mercifully avoided

A potentially horrifying moment at the Indianapolis 500 was mercifully avoided after a tyre came loose in a high-speed accident during the race, which cleared the fans in the stands and landed on a car in the car park.

The race was red-flagged after Arrow McLaren driver Felix Rosenqvist crashed out at Turn 1, but in damaging his suspension was left a passenger in his car as he came back across the track.

Kyle Kirkwood was approaching at speed behind and could not avoid the Swede, tagging the car and being flipped upside down in the process.

His car scraped along its rollhoop and the safety features in place in IndyCar meant that Kirkwood was able to climb out of his car with only minor injuries to his knees reported, but the angle at which Kirkwood and Rosenqvist collided sent one of Kirkwood's tyres flying into the air, detaching the wheel tether that was meant to keep the tyre attached in the process.

Here's where that flying tire impacted in turn 2 ⁦@IMS⁩ #indy500 pic.twitter.com/MLexGcUu5q

— Andrew Kossack (@AndrewKossack) May 28, 2023

So far did the tyre travel, it managed to clear the grandstands containing fans and the catch fence at the Indianapolis 500 and it eventually landed on the bonnet of a car in one of the car parks at the race.

Marshals at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were quickly on hand to investigate the incident and, thankfully, it was soon reported that nobody was injured when the flying tyre landed – avoiding what could have been a catastrophic accident at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

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Social media footage showed the damage to the car caused by the impact of the tyre, and Kirkwood was taken to the on-site medical centre at the circuit to get assessed after his high-speed incident.