Rookie Jovy Marcelo of the Philippines was killed in a crash during practice Friday, the first driver in 10 years to die at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Marcelo, one of more than a dozen drivers trying to find enough speed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, sustained head and chest injuries and was pronounced dead at 4:35 p.m. EST after being taken by ambulance to Methodist Hospital.The accident occurred as Marcelo was accelerating after a warmup lap at 172.328 mph. He spun driving into Turn 1 on the 21/2-mile oval and smashed into the wall.
The 27-year-old driver didn't regain consciousness.
He is the first driver fatality at Indy since Gordon Smiley was killed instantly in a crash during qualifying in 1982. A spectator was killed by a flying tire during the 1987 race.
Marcelo is the 40th driver and 65th person to die from injuries sustained at the speedway since it opened in 1909.
The search for speed continued after Marcelo's crash, with plenty of activity during the final 90 minutes on the last full day of practice for the May 24 race.
Tony Bettenhausen was the fastest of the non-qualified drivers Friday, turning a lap of 221.033, followed by Didier Theys of Belgium, who got his car up to 220.146.
"This kind of an accident always affects you," said the somber Theys. "These cars are very safe, but if you hit your head . . .
"It's very hard to put that out of your mind, especially when you know that person." Theys added. "It's very hard to make a compromise when you jump in a car the day after. You say to yourself, `I need to be safe and I need to be fast to be competitive and make the show.' That's very hard to make that compromise."
Antonio Ferrari of Italy, who owns the car in which Marcelo was killed, was close to tears as he left the Euromotorsports Racing garage several hours after the accident.
"He was so good guy," Ferrari said halting accented English before walking quickly away.
Fellow car owner Dale Coyne, who was in the second turn watching one of his drivers practice, saw Marcelo removed from the 1991 Euromotorsports Lola and said, "Everybody's bothered by this. Jovy was a nice kid with a lot of enthusiasm."
There are six spots remaining in the 33-car lineup for the 76th Indy 500.