Two driver changes for Road America

NTT IndyCar Series has a very strange occurrence, with two drivers not being cleared to drive during the upcoming Road America race this weekend.

This is down to the doctors now allowing the two drivers to participate, following the accidents on and off the track.

Felix Rosenqvist was sent to hospital following a serious crash in the Saturday race. His throttle was stuck wide open on his Arrow McLaren SP car, so he went straight into the concrete wall, with the tire barrier that was covered the wall, not taking much of the impact. He was released from hospital on Monday, but hasn’t been cleared to race by doctors in the series.

Kevin Magnussen
Photo: Arrow McLaren SP

Arrow McLaren SP has called up Kevin Magnussen as a replacement. This will be the very first Indycar race for the Dane, who never has tested a car, nor has driven at Road American before. So this will be a tough start. This will be a second generation Magnussen racing in the highest ranked American single-seater championship, with his dad Jan racing there, more than 20 years ago in Champ Car. Kevin Magnussen is participating in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on the American tracks, but a sportscar is a very different kind of kit than an Indycar, let alone the Formula 1 cars that he is used to.

Rinus Veekay is the second driver, who won’t race this weekend. He was unlucky to have a crash on his bike, during his physical preparation for the weekend. That resulted in a broken clavicle bone, and he had to undergo surgery, which makes it impossible to race – and just to make sure that he didn’t get any ideas of participating anyway, the series doctor has ruled the Dutchman out of the race weekend.

Oliver Askew
Photo: Indycar.com/Joe Skibinski

VeeKay will be replaced by Oliver Askew, who will race his second team in two weeks. He replaced Rosenqvist during the Sunday race in Detroit, since he was in the Detroit area already. So it’s quite special for the American to race for Arrow McLaren SP one weekend, and Ed Carpenter Racing on the following weekend.

The race at Road America will run this Sunday, with the coverage starting 18.00 CET.

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