Posted by admin | Posted in Sports | Posted on 17-10-2011
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon is reported dead at the age of 33 following a car crash in a fiery 15-car pileup on Sunday. Wheldon’s car flew over another auto and hit the catch fence just outside turn 2 in a season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Englishman, driving from the back of the field for a chance at $5 million, was in the middle of the pack when he drove into a tangle of cars careening off each other in every direction. Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; about two hours later, his colleagues were told of his death by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, who said Wheldon’s injuries were “unsurvivable.”
Wheldon, from Buckinghamshire, started his career in karts in the UK, racing against Anthony Davidson and Jenson Button with whom he had a rivalry. He was mentored by Terry Fullerton, Ayrton Senna’s great rival from karting days and appropriately, won the FIA ‘Ayrton Senna’ Memorial World Cup. He moved to the USA, rather than chase his F1 dream, because of a lack of funds. In 2005 Dan Wheldon became the first English driver since Graham Hill to win the Indy 500.
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