Pablo Perez Companc huge crash in IRL, Homestead

[ursuss100]

Safety cell FTW.

[ManowarFan1985]

wow the fence is strong :D

[urmo345]

incredible strong cockpit...lucky driver too.

[cocarn1]

Pablo me alegro de corazón q estes tan bien y en las pistas. Vas a correr en tc 2000?

[lemans24fan]

i taped this race on espn2 because thats when they used to show them on there. i came home from work watched the tape and thought he was dead. keep in mind this was only a year after paul dana died......

[bizfer]

LA cosa es saber que estás bien, es lo que importa. ALguna oferta para seguir corriendo en algún lugar? porque no llegan noticias de nadie que no sea realcionado con la F1...

[throxnet]

They call this real man sport ? Not like F1 too much safety features.

[looneymanhard]

I admire Pablo´s will to go recover and go racing again. It´s not all about having balls, but love for this sport, too. If that happened to my, I would try to do the same he has done: recover and race! :D

He has started racing again in a "middle" level series called GT2000 in Argentina, wich I think it is good to get along again with speed and clinched 2009 Championship.

Thats the attitude, keep fighting Pablo!!!

[klesterchopperchipe]

I'm looking forward to seeing Pablo racing a United Autosports Audi R8 LMS in British GT next weekend at Oulton Park, alongside Zak Brown. I see he won the Argentinian GT2000 series last year. I don't know what kind of level that series is at, but whatever, it's a great way to come back from his injuries.

[klesterchopperchipe]

@klesterchopperchipe

Actually I just read that it looks like he will be replaced in the line-up (possibly by Tiff Needell) as he was in some pain during testing, and needs another operation, having had 26 already... poor guy. Hope he gets his chance sometime this season.

[javitonet1976]

Hermano... La desaceleracion que sufrio tu cuerpo es impresionante, agradece a dios que estas vivo... Fuerza Pablito y ojala puedas tener revancha...

[pablop1]

Yes I now , ovals are really dangerous. But at the time, I thought that nothing was going to happened to me..but as you can see , it happened to me in the first race of the season. Hi to all the people. This is my second time that I see the accident. First of all I want to make public all the thanks for al the medical people of the Miami memorial hospital and the Methodist hospital of Indianapolis , also all the guys of the ganassi team, the people of the rehab center ,

[PanZoti]

Felicitaciones por el campeonato y realmente me alegre cuando te repusiste del accidente!

[satrace]

Que palito te pegaste loco!.Mala suerte.Hubieras hecho una gran carrera como piloto en EE.UU. Anduviste muy bien en esa primer carrera.Pero bueno, en la vida a veces pasan cosas que son impredecibles.Lo importante es que estes bien y con la gente que queres.Un abrazo y a seguir dandole !!

[Schumacher1886]

@pablop1 unbelievable crash so glad you ok :)

[thepspman116]

@pablop1 its too bad the way the catch fence destroys the car when it come in contact with it, thats how wheldon was killed, glad you survived.

[pablop1]

all the racing fans and the IndyCar and a special thanks for Dr Webber , Dr Ginzburg , Denise and Dr Scheid , because they are de reason that Im still walking and racing. Last year (2009) was my first full year racing again and I became gt2000 prototype champion in my country. This year I found a seat to race in the FIA GT3 with my friend John Della Penna with an American team . I hope that I can still be in the top of the game. .Thanks for all the support race fans.

Huge .Pablo Perez

[jraybay]

This is what happens when open wheel cars race around an oval.

[18sux29rox]

It's the same thing that happen to Ryan Briscoe .

[aure232]

this fence should have melted in plexy glass, then car would slide on it and not shredded to pieces.

[Doom7073]

Show some respect .!

[Marcial856]

hey, his fine !

i wouldn't be talking if he would still be on a wheel chair

in fact, his racing again,

with a leg 2 inches shorter than the other

[ImEastonianBitch]

Considering this could happen at any oval.

[cj52racers]

Uhh yeah, so are you saying there should be no safety fence? Interesting as I am thinking it would be much worse had he not remained on course.

[dolphinmagic24fan]

yup, those light poles are just asking for trouble. Fence needs to stay for many reasons.

[nascarsignore]

so much like Ryan Briscoe 2005

[sabbathbassdude14]

excatly like it

[KingSnowman]

Exactly like Kenny Break at Texas well. These "Catch fence destroys the car and sends the cocoon (with driver in it) spinning" accidents are happening a lot. Carl Edwards last week was same thing, although it was a stock car rather than this....bt if i had been IRL this would have happened again.

[drumkid67]

Was he killed in this?

I've never really heard anything about this..

[FLOTHERIDA]

No, he is still alive. He underwent extensive surgery on both legs below the knees. Now, he has to sit in a wheel chair. He plans on returning to racing when fully recovered.

[fran812]

he's racing in a local series here in argentina... perhaps someday he goes back to race in USA or europe, his father is the richest man in argentina

[gdgdgfdggfdfg]

that clip like many other serious accidents in this day and age, shows how fragile we are as a society, no footage is shown of the crashed car after it hit the wall, because someone might be offended, motorsport is dangerous and if people cant handle that then dont watch.

[nolanbowling]

I find that the safety standards of now days are completely changing the way drivers approaching racing. You see drivers taking risk now, that were unheard of 30 and 40 years ago.

[kingofrunescapepking]

its funny how his car didnt damage the fence

[hammerhappy243]

that was one big crash\

[jraybay]

he iss ok??

[rockypc24]

this looks like ryran brisco werck

at michagan

[dhfiuejfdhjfoiewdjmn]

chigago

[geek49203]

I talked w/ Pablo at Indy (have the pics to prove it), and at that time Pablo was planning on racing again. I hear he's racing sports cars somewhere in South American this year.

[bizfer]

who is perez companc? is a familiar of rally pilot?

[kelperbelcher]

Argentinian driver. and yes he is..

[TahoeJoe06]

Like Briscoe's 05 crash at chicago with no flames

[Harvickfan04]

wow this is terrible, his first and probally his last indylights start of his young career

[NialoF1]

Those catch fences can be lethal

[3fan4eva]

Just look at Russel Phillips at Charlotte in 1995 during a Sportsman Race

[gentiloser]

you are out of your mind. if the pro series is a step in the FAA rung ladder, then yea, it is going a great job.

the series is pathetic, and you don't even know the proper name, so who the hell are you to talk about it. and juan's granny could drive those crappy cars.

which talented IRL drivers are former indy lights grads? explain that one to me.

[fcleeren]

Does the name of Scott Dixon say you anything?

[fcleeren]

Or Tony Kanaan, or Greg Moore etc etc...

[gentiloser]

IDIOTS. Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Greg Moore were NOT Indy Pro Series drivers.

Read a god damn history book, morons.

[fcleeren]

"gentiloser:

which talented IRL drivers are former indy lights grads? explain that one to me. "

Indy Lights Champions:

1995: Greg Moore

1997: Tony Kanaan

2000: Scott Dixon

[gentiloser]

dumbass, none of those are Indy Pro Series driver. They were Indy Lights drivers in a rung of the ladder under CART that ceased existence and was not restarted/retooled by CART/Champ Car.

The IPS has NOTHING to do with Indy Lights. Might want to go back and look at the record books again.

[fcleeren]

Do you want me to quote you again? Just take a look at what you've said:

"gentiloser:

which talented IRL drivers are former indy lights grads? explain that one to me. "

Do I or do I not see "Indy lights" there?

I know it's not the same, but that was what you've said...

Go bark under another tree, there's nothing to insult here.

[gentiloser]

I was referring to the "new" Indy Lights, as it is being marketed by IMS. Which in reality is the Indy Pro Series/Infiniti Pro Series. It has NO relation to the graduates from Indy Lights under CART. That is the point. The new Indy Lights has produced ZERO talent. Any and all talent from CART that later went to the IRL went through CART Indy Lights until it imploded.

The new Indy Lights is not to be confused with the CART version that actually produced talent and meant something.

[fcleeren]

Then we kind of agree, no need to call names over semantics. With the unification though I do expect more talent to come through the Indy Lights, as the Atlantics are getting a bit irrelevant now. The current crop in the Firestone Indy Lights is pretty decent, and for example any European with AOWR ambitions knows that's the place he needs to be. Another problem is that there aren't much opportunities in the ICS for Indy Lights grads, especially with Duno and Roth taking up some of the seats...

[Zadan]

You can't really whinge about Roth taking up a seat :P The dude owns the team he races with, so if he wasn't racing i doubt that seat would exist for someone else to fill :P I'd perferr to have an extra back marker team with a crap driver then not having that extra team at all !!!

Pay out on Milka Duno all you want though, she has no place in an Indycar.

[fcleeren]

As long as he stays away from road courses...

[geek49203]

"FAA rung ladder"??

Federal Aviation Administration? Joke intended?

How about FIA instead?

And, obviously you've been corrected on the "talented drivers in the IRL" thing. Having press credentials to 3 of those races this year, I can assure you that there are more good drivers that are coming up.

[webdesigner01]

Which section of the car is he in?????

[SnoddyD123]

how the hell did he survive that :|

[nascarfan1987]

thats nothin...how did kenny brack survive his crash?

[IndianaSPEED]

You obviously haven't seen some of the older CART/IndyCar road course wrecks? Those are almost as bad as this crash and some are even worse!!

Open Wheel cars are dangerous on any race course.

[gentiloser]

someone should shut this series down. pathetic.

[nascarfan48and29]

the angle at :59 is the best. Watch were his head is and then as he hits the fence you can see the cockpit compartment spin down the track

[jorgeabujamra]

I couldn't find where was his body after the wall-crash... The car tear itself in pieces.

[OriginalAtomicSheep]

look at it carefully... you can clearly see the drivers cockpit seperate and in 1:09 its the piece thats in the very right of the photo smack bang in the centre... so centre right of the shot. Trace it backwards and ull see for urself.

[jorgeabujamra]

True... now I can see. Awful acident. :(

[Brett140]

looks like he was going 180 mph as kentucky speedway track

[LeicesterCityFoxes]

Eerily similar to Kenny Brack's crash, was he alright?

[wawwwaaa]

just leg injuries like Davy Hamilton had back in 2001/2002

[Nascar93fan]

what year was this? btw, looks similar to kenny bracks crash at texas in 2003!

[Lakebeach]

Nascar93fan: March 24 2007

[Kingofcrash3]

07 i was watching it

[F1V1]

Actually it kinda does but if you really want to see a similar crash, watch Ryan Briscoe's IRL crash, extremely similar.

[18PacWest]

And similar to the former Formula one test driver Ryan Briscoe

[burteriksson]

Now that was really mangled and messed up!

[Andrebraci10]

this horrible

[davidjbowman]

that was really bad.

[torukazama]

le paso algo al piloto?

por cierto, no sera hermano de Luis Perez Companc el piloto de rallies?

[eoyispunk]

si, es el hermano

[farmhousejp]

fatal?

[burteriksson]

You bet your sweet ass it was!!

[Nxtl68]

Paul Dana died during practice at Homestead. That wreck was terrible

[humanshopper]

From Wiki: In his first race for the team at Homestead-Miami Speedway he made contact with Sean Guthrie's car on lap 47. His car launched over Guthrie and into the catch fence where the footbox of his car was sheared off, resulting in what an observer termed as "gruesome" injuries to his feet and legs. He's OK tho.

[MAXCRUSHER]

oooooooooooh por lo menos se acuerdan del "gonchi"rodriguez!

[johnnystir]

This is not the IRL, but the Indy Pro Series. Sanctioned by the IRL, but not the same.

[gwuille]

impresionante accidente, increible que esté con vida. Debe tener una gran fuerza espiritual y paciencia, se va arecuperar.

[tsdaman]

did he die?

[cerberus1981]

He suffered leg injuries but is recovering.

[sonicpixy]

I'm very surprised he has any legs. It appeared to me as if they got torn off the instant he met with the chicken wire fencing. Good thing his head did not meety with a car on the way down the banking.. .

[AtomicMutant]

Scary formula

25 low talent part-time wannabe drivers who are driving over their heads and have no right being out there + Open wheel cars on an oval = cheesegrater

How much of that race was run under yellow?, 23rds of it?. Pathetic.

[oddba11]

ur a cheerful chappie arnt ya!

[LGomez23j]

there are some good drivers in the series... maybe a little shadowed by the bad ones.. but they are still there

[FlyGirlTina]

Does Perez companc stay in the cockpit or does he end up on the track? it's either a bit of debris i see or he's sprawled over the track.

Other than that, horrible crash. i hope he recovers with both his legs.

[cerberus1981]

The cockpit tub remained intact, although it slowed down very rapidly.

[Lakebeach]

Tuesday, 27th March 2007: "Injured Indy Pro Series driver Pablo Perez underwent further surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami yesterday [Monday], with doctors again maintaining that he is progressing as expected.

The 24-year old Argentine sustained serious leg injuries in a multi-car accident on lap 47 of the Miami 100 at Homestead on Saturday and has now undergone multiple surgeries under the supervision of Dr Michael Olinger, director of medical services for the Indy Racing League."

[AJ1964]

This is real racing. F1, CCWS are parades, you can't get hurt there.

[BrakeCheck]

So real racing means you have to get hurt, and you can't get hurt in other forms of racing. That makes a lot of sense. Apparantly you're still stuck in 1964.

[DanielDC02]

Real racing means to DO NOT get hurt,

IRL means "we DO NOT CARE A SHIFT ABOUT IT"

SO IRL is NOT REAL RACING

[krdando]

Your a dumbass, champ car is pathetic

[gwuille]

you r pathetic

[JoshuaJohnKnight]

I agree IRL is Better. The Indy Pro Series is better aswell

[CourtyardPigeon]

I think what you meant was "you're a dumbass"...do you see the irony?

[senorsoupe]

How can you say that???? I am sure that the family of Ayrton Senna will disagree with you, or how about Michael Schumacher who broke his leg in 1999, or Ralf Schumacher who broke vertebrae at the 2004 USGP, or if you look at CART how about Jeff Krosnoff who was killed at the Molson Indy Toronto (NOT ON AN OVAL). Other forms of racing are dangerous, just not as risky as open wheel oval racing.

[monkeypoo1]

No. If you watch to see people killed or injured, YOU are not a real fan of motorsport. Your a sadistic nutjob. I want to see competition and racing, I want to see fast cars, and I want to see side by side racing. I don't want to see peoples lives ruined.

[tazi69]

Why are you then watching this?

[bernardmonteiro]

was he able to keep his feet ?

i was looking for news about him but i was unable to find anything different from "he was submited to a reconstructive surgery on his feet"..

does anybody knwos how is he now ?

[vr83]

I agree with you mate, but unfortunately motorsport to the majority of people is about the crashes. Back in the early days it was considered something of a modern day Colosseum. Hence the reason I no longer attend events, great racing is going on and people sit bored, the minute someone crashes they are on their feet cheering. It's that same interest that brings the majority back each year.

[mossmusic]

then why you watching this?? I love racing, but we all like it when someone falls down. we just hope that it isn't fatal.

[evbo21395]

No it wasn't fatal, but perez's career is practically finished.

P.S. Ganassi didn't replace him.

[geek49203]

I talked with Pablo at Indy last year (my pic is on his Wiki page). Pablo doesn't think that his career is over.

Chip didn't replace him in IPS, but Chip did hire Alex Lloyd, another IPS guy.

[wolves16]

Looks just like Kenny Brack's wreck. Scary stuff. Hope he'll be able to save his legs.

[Lakebeach]

Monday, 26th March 2007: "Injured Chip Ganassi driver Pablo Perez is recovering in Jackson Memorial Hospital, following his accident in the Indy Pro Series opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday.

The Argentine underwent surgery for serious leg injuries, but is now listed as 'stable', with Dr Michael Olinger, director of medical services for the Indy Racing League, claiming that he is progressing 'as expected'."

[popoffvalve]

No, he is not O.K. He may or may not keep his legs.

You would think we would have reached a consensus by now that pack racing is never appropriate for open wheel cars. The IRL will kill this sport eventually.

[tinks1234]

is the guy ok?

[TheGlobalMind]

For the record, last year's crash at Homestead was the driver's fault and had nothing to do with the series, the cars or the track.

To my knowledge there have been no other IRL deaths at Homestead. If you think there have been then go find the records and post a reply.

K.

[wiggyigy]

poor kid,,, bet his daddy didn't realize what he was getting his son into when he wrote the cheque to Fatassi for the IPoS ride

[GoFeri]

I don't understand why anyone would risk his life in IPS when there is Atlantics, Star Mazda etc.

[geek49203]

"Atlantics, Star Mazda etc."

Because they want to run Indy. Indy is the only place where open-wheel drivers can get paid to drive open-wheel cars. Most CCWS drivers pay to drive, as do the drivers in all of the series that you mention.

[TomGS]

is Perez companc.... not just perez ;)

[Lakebeach]

"Monday, 26th March 2007 - Injured Chip Ganassi driver Pablo Perez is recovering in Jackson Memorial Hospital, following his accident in the Indy Pro Series opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday.

The Argentine underwent surgery for serious leg injuries, but is now listed as 'stable', with Dr Michael Olinger, director of medical services for the Indy Racing League, claiming that he is progressing 'as expected'."

[unit36]

Sounds like some of you should watch figure skating.

[BrakeCheck]

IRL racing, it's fantastic! Unless you're one of the unlucky fans that will eventually have one of these cars come over or through the fence at you.

When will the IRL realize that pack racing on high banked ovals is a game of russian roulette? After the infamous accidents involving Kenny Brack, Ryan Briscoe, Tony Renna (RIP), and now this, will the motorsport press hold the IRL accountable for actually encouraging this type of racing and these type of accidents that it produces.

[TheGlobalMind]

Ok yea and the IRL is the only series that has had injuries. Give me a break. Go back to competitive knitting.

K.

[devildog881966]

It is IPS-not IRL-it is a different form of racing. Happy with single file, follow-the-leader garbage of CCWS? That kind of racing STINKS! Racing is risky get over it! If you are that much of a wuss go back to the milque-toast CCWS crap! Renna died in practice at Indy in turn 3. Nothing to do with pack racing-he was on the track alone. Go search YouTube for vid of Gordon Smiley he was all alone in Quals in 1982. Quit trying to stir the pot! You are a pathetic opportunist.

[BrakeCheck]

I agree that racing is risky enough as is, so why make it riskier with pack racing (which, BTW, is often follow the leader too since everyone is on full throttle all the time)? How can I be a "pathectic opportunist" when these type of accidents keep occuring, yet they never occured in CART? And don't confuse the pack racing issue with the way IRL cars acheive massive lift once air gets under them (as in Tony Renna's accident). Two separate issues, and both are black eyes to the sport.

[coleratindy]

RE: "yet they never occured in CART": Greg Moore, Jeff Krosnoff, Gonzalo Rodriguez. All 3 killed in Champ Car (CART) events. Two in the race. No one has ever died in an IRL RACE. I don't think either is safer than the other. The cars are safer than ever, the tracks are safer than ever, but accidents will always happen. Open wheels, cars touch, cars go in the air. This happens everywhere from dirt track racing and go-karts to F1.

[StrangeFrogg]

Ummm...the IPS IS sanctioned by the IRL...it's the IRL Indy Pro Series, is it not?

And...yeah...the IRL IndyCar Series race at Homestead had nothing to do with 'follow the leader'.

Milquetoast. 750hp, no traction control...yeah. That's milquetoast.

[word360]

That looks exactly like Ryan Briscoe's crash at Chicagoland.

[IRLIndyCar]

Dang. This is the 4th or 5th wreck like this. Zampedri at the Indy 500, Brack at Texas, Briscoe and now Perez. Wow - he was actually in the monocoque (sp?) piece that stayed behind the car. Lucky to live. What can they do to prevent this deal. NASCAR has them on the safety side of things.

[Evilpengwinz3]

sp correct, lol