@Hickey93 on X
IndyCar driver Louis Foster was lucky to walk away unscathed after a terrifying crash in Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix. Now, newly released on-board video shows the moment Foster suffered a right-front suspension failure, sending him hurtling out of control at 180+ miles per hour.
The 21-year-old Englishman was driving down the backstretch of the street circuit when the failure occurred. He immediately lost all control of the steering and was sent careening into the wall. After bouncing off of the wall, he slammed into the back of an unknowing fellow driver, Felix Rosenqvist, who himself was sent into the wall.
Foster continued on, out of control, before crashing into the tire barrier and coming to a stop. Somehow, he was unharmed in the accident. Rosenqvist, meanwhile, complained of leg pain immediately after the accident but was cleared of any serious injury.
“Clear as day, it was a suspension failure,” Foster said. “Soon as I hit the brakes, the front right suspension just popped up and I can’t do anything. It’s difficult, man.
“There’s not a lot I can say right now. It’s just a car failure. This place is so bumpy. It puts so much stress on the drivers and the cars. Does that have anything to do with it? Gut feeling says yes. So I don’t know what to do or to say.”
Suspension failures in the IndyCar series are incredibly uncommon. The last notable incident occurred in 2015 when former driver turned commentator James Hinchliffe suffered a massive crash during practice for the Indy 500. Hinchcliffe suffered life-threatening injuries, including a severed artery and fractured pelvis.
Thankfully, neither Rosenqvist nor Foster suffered anywhere near the same type of injury. But it’s just a reminder of how dangerous open-wheel racing can be.
Both drivers are set to return to action on June 15th in the Grand Prix of Illinois at World Wide Technology Raceway.