IRL: Schmidt in critical condition after Orlando test crash
7 January 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
|
Dr. Henry Bock, Walt Disney World Speedway medical director, reported that Schmidt is listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Orlando Regional Medical Center with some paralysis. Schmidt, 35, is conscious and alert.
About one hour after Schmidts accident, rookie Doug Didero, driving the Mid-America Motorsports 1999 Dallara/Aurora/Firestone, lost control of his car exiting Turn 2. The car did a 90-degree spin, then straightened but made light contact with the inside retaining wall, damaging the left side suspension. Didero was unhurt.
"The racetrack is very tricky. I drove a Silver Bullet car here, and its relatively easy to get around it in those cars," said Didero. "With these cars you find it takes a great deal of attention to hit your marks through the turns. Down in Turn 1 we had a big push in the car and thought we had a real safe race car. We were just working the push out of it. The last thing we thought about was having trouble in Turn 2. I was running very comfortably through there. For some reason the car just got a little loose, and it came around. I thought I had it saved there, but I had to take the car into the grass and I caught in the inside wall. Well go back and get the car repaired and get ready for the race. Weve learned from today, and well come down with a little bit different setup."
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