Greg@GLD
09-26-2006, 07:02 PM
From Ford media Services:
BRUISED BRIT SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED
Katherine Legge
http://media.ford.com/images/large/others/Katherine_Legge.jpg
Elkhart Lake, Wis. — One moment, Katherine Legge was sailing toward possibly her best finish of the season. The next, she was sailing into the concrete wall, into the air, into the catch fencing and thousands were praying for her life.
Somehow, though, the plucky 26-year-old Brit survived the spectacular and frightening crash Sunday in the waning laps of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America — and could even laugh about it less than an hour after it happened. Legge appeared to escape with only bumps and bruises from an accident that looked deadly.
Running a solid sixth with just five laps to go, all hell broke loose for Legge when the rear wing element flew off her No. 20 Bell Micro-PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola as she went through The Kink, one of the high-speed areas of the four-mile Road America circuit. Likely traveling at more than 170 mph, Legge suddenly and without warning had no rear downforce as she raced into the arcing right-hand curve.
The Lola’s rear swung violently around and she plastered the concrete barrier, then was vaulted airborne and into the catch fencing that ripped the machine apart. The engine and rear axle sheared off as they are designed to do, as well as other chassis parts, to dissipate the ferocious energy involved.
Debris littered the race track and the catch fencing was damaged, forcing Champ Car officials to red-flag the event on the 48th of 51 laps. Everyone in the crowd and the paddock held their collective breath as Legge was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the Champ Car medical unit at the track. Thoughts of Cristiano da Matta, seriously injured at the same track just seven weeks earlier, surely entered most everyone’s minds.
Yet, within about 10 minutes of entering the med unit, there was Legge on the television broadcast, standing outside the door, waving and smiling. Soon after, she headed to pit lane to visit with her crew and acknowledged a loud round of thankful applause from the grandstands opposite the pits.
“I’m a bit shaken, but I’m OK,” reported Legge, who’ll likely be very sore come Monday. “All my bits are intact, so that just goes to show how strong Champ Cars are.”
Fellow rookie Dan Clarke was the perfect eyewitness to the incident since he was following Legge in a battle for sixth place.
“Coming out of the carousel, I just saw her main rear wing plate come off and hit my car,” Clarke said. “My immediate reaction was I was going to make up a position because she’s not going to be fast anymore. As soon as she went into the turn, the rear end came out and I realized she was going fast into the wall.
“It was quite scary really to see how high her car went,” Clarke continued. “She looked like she was going right up the fence and I could see right into the cockpit. It was scary.”
Legge remembered the entire horrifying incident, but admitted it’s hard to know what’s going on from the eye of the hurricane.
“All of a sudden, the car sped up and hit the wall,” she said. “Then I see the ground and there is dirt coming in, and then I see fence. Honestly, you are thinking, ‘What is going to happen next?’
“I think I saw parts [of the car] breaking off all around me. I think I saw the engine split away because the thing I was thinking about the most was that the car was going to catch fire. Then when the engine went away, I though, ‘OK, that’s good.’ To be honest, I think I had my eyes closed for lots of it, but it is a bit scary.”
Legge was most worried that her bruised knee from banging it inside the tight driver’s cocoon would not look good in the dress she was wearing to the Champ Car Atlantics banquet Sunday evening. She was eager to jump back into the cockpit.
“I’d get back in and finish the race,” she said. “You have to be a bit detached to be a race car driver, you have to have a bit of a screw loose. Honestly, it’s just one of those things.
“Yes, it was scary and, yes, that’s the chance I take when I drive one of these cars. It’s what I do. It’s probably more dangerous riding horses or something like that. You just have to put it to one side and have a healthy respect for it, but move on and keep doing what you do.”
To show her support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Katherine Legge traded in her standard red, white and black machine for a “Warriors in Pink – Powered by Ford” paint scheme and decals. Legge will sport a custom fire suit, gloves, shoes and helmet that will be signed and auctioned later this year to benefit the Komen Foundation.
The Warriors in Pink initiative is an extensive collection of apparel and accessories for men, women and children which includes t-shirts, men’s thermal wear, gear and temporary tattoos for kids. The items feature bold symbols that represent the Warrior spirit of taking charge, living out loud, harnessing power and standing together.
One hundred percent of net proceeds from Warriors in Pink merchandise will benefit the Komen Foundation. All items can be purchased at www.fordcares.com.
About Katherine Legge
Katherine Legge, driver of the No. 20 Gulfstream Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, is the first female to run full-time in the Champ Car World Series and became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America with her 2005 victory in Long Beach. Legge has earned four top-10 finishes in her first 11 races. She placed a career high sixth at Milwaukee, eighth in her Champ Car debut at Long Beach, eighth in Cleveland and ninth in Denver. Legge has qualified in the top-10 once, eighth in Milwaukee. The resident of Indianapolis is third in laps completed and ninth in laps led. Legge is 14 th in the standings with 117 points, 17 points out of 10 th, and is third in the Roshrans Rookie of the Year race, trailing leader Will Power by 50 points.
About Komen Race for the Cure Series and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Since 1995, Ford has been a National Sponsor of the Komen Race for the Cure Series. The Komen Race Series began in Dallas in 1983 as a local race drawing 800 participants and has since grown into a series of more than 100 Races with more than 1 million participants expected this year.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a global leader in the fight against breast cancer, was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Today, the Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 active volunteers working through local Affiliates and events like the Komen Race for the Cure® to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. Through fiscal year 2006, together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has invested more than $630 million in breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment.
For more information about the Komen Foundation, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call the Foundation’s National Toll Free Breast Care Helpline at 1.800 I’M AWARE® (1.800.462.9273)
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 300,000 employees and more than 100 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s breast cancer awareness initiatives, visit www.fordcares.com.
BRUISED BRIT SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED
Katherine Legge
http://media.ford.com/images/large/others/Katherine_Legge.jpg
Elkhart Lake, Wis. — One moment, Katherine Legge was sailing toward possibly her best finish of the season. The next, she was sailing into the concrete wall, into the air, into the catch fencing and thousands were praying for her life.
Somehow, though, the plucky 26-year-old Brit survived the spectacular and frightening crash Sunday in the waning laps of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America — and could even laugh about it less than an hour after it happened. Legge appeared to escape with only bumps and bruises from an accident that looked deadly.
Running a solid sixth with just five laps to go, all hell broke loose for Legge when the rear wing element flew off her No. 20 Bell Micro-PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola as she went through The Kink, one of the high-speed areas of the four-mile Road America circuit. Likely traveling at more than 170 mph, Legge suddenly and without warning had no rear downforce as she raced into the arcing right-hand curve.
The Lola’s rear swung violently around and she plastered the concrete barrier, then was vaulted airborne and into the catch fencing that ripped the machine apart. The engine and rear axle sheared off as they are designed to do, as well as other chassis parts, to dissipate the ferocious energy involved.
Debris littered the race track and the catch fencing was damaged, forcing Champ Car officials to red-flag the event on the 48th of 51 laps. Everyone in the crowd and the paddock held their collective breath as Legge was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the Champ Car medical unit at the track. Thoughts of Cristiano da Matta, seriously injured at the same track just seven weeks earlier, surely entered most everyone’s minds.
Yet, within about 10 minutes of entering the med unit, there was Legge on the television broadcast, standing outside the door, waving and smiling. Soon after, she headed to pit lane to visit with her crew and acknowledged a loud round of thankful applause from the grandstands opposite the pits.
“I’m a bit shaken, but I’m OK,” reported Legge, who’ll likely be very sore come Monday. “All my bits are intact, so that just goes to show how strong Champ Cars are.”
Fellow rookie Dan Clarke was the perfect eyewitness to the incident since he was following Legge in a battle for sixth place.
“Coming out of the carousel, I just saw her main rear wing plate come off and hit my car,” Clarke said. “My immediate reaction was I was going to make up a position because she’s not going to be fast anymore. As soon as she went into the turn, the rear end came out and I realized she was going fast into the wall.
“It was quite scary really to see how high her car went,” Clarke continued. “She looked like she was going right up the fence and I could see right into the cockpit. It was scary.”
Legge remembered the entire horrifying incident, but admitted it’s hard to know what’s going on from the eye of the hurricane.
“All of a sudden, the car sped up and hit the wall,” she said. “Then I see the ground and there is dirt coming in, and then I see fence. Honestly, you are thinking, ‘What is going to happen next?’
“I think I saw parts [of the car] breaking off all around me. I think I saw the engine split away because the thing I was thinking about the most was that the car was going to catch fire. Then when the engine went away, I though, ‘OK, that’s good.’ To be honest, I think I had my eyes closed for lots of it, but it is a bit scary.”
Legge was most worried that her bruised knee from banging it inside the tight driver’s cocoon would not look good in the dress she was wearing to the Champ Car Atlantics banquet Sunday evening. She was eager to jump back into the cockpit.
“I’d get back in and finish the race,” she said. “You have to be a bit detached to be a race car driver, you have to have a bit of a screw loose. Honestly, it’s just one of those things.
“Yes, it was scary and, yes, that’s the chance I take when I drive one of these cars. It’s what I do. It’s probably more dangerous riding horses or something like that. You just have to put it to one side and have a healthy respect for it, but move on and keep doing what you do.”
To show her support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Katherine Legge traded in her standard red, white and black machine for a “Warriors in Pink – Powered by Ford” paint scheme and decals. Legge will sport a custom fire suit, gloves, shoes and helmet that will be signed and auctioned later this year to benefit the Komen Foundation.
The Warriors in Pink initiative is an extensive collection of apparel and accessories for men, women and children which includes t-shirts, men’s thermal wear, gear and temporary tattoos for kids. The items feature bold symbols that represent the Warrior spirit of taking charge, living out loud, harnessing power and standing together.
One hundred percent of net proceeds from Warriors in Pink merchandise will benefit the Komen Foundation. All items can be purchased at www.fordcares.com.
About Katherine Legge
Katherine Legge, driver of the No. 20 Gulfstream Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, is the first female to run full-time in the Champ Car World Series and became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America with her 2005 victory in Long Beach. Legge has earned four top-10 finishes in her first 11 races. She placed a career high sixth at Milwaukee, eighth in her Champ Car debut at Long Beach, eighth in Cleveland and ninth in Denver. Legge has qualified in the top-10 once, eighth in Milwaukee. The resident of Indianapolis is third in laps completed and ninth in laps led. Legge is 14 th in the standings with 117 points, 17 points out of 10 th, and is third in the Roshrans Rookie of the Year race, trailing leader Will Power by 50 points.
About Komen Race for the Cure Series and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Since 1995, Ford has been a National Sponsor of the Komen Race for the Cure Series. The Komen Race Series began in Dallas in 1983 as a local race drawing 800 participants and has since grown into a series of more than 100 Races with more than 1 million participants expected this year.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a global leader in the fight against breast cancer, was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Today, the Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 active volunteers working through local Affiliates and events like the Komen Race for the Cure® to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. Through fiscal year 2006, together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has invested more than $630 million in breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment.
For more information about the Komen Foundation, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call the Foundation’s National Toll Free Breast Care Helpline at 1.800 I’M AWARE® (1.800.462.9273)
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 300,000 employees and more than 100 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s breast cancer awareness initiatives, visit www.fordcares.com.