Monday, 17 October 2011

Dan Wheldon.

Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was an English auto racing driver. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011. Wheldon died during a racing accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 16 October 2011, at the age of 33.Wheldon was released from his drive at Ganassi on 2 September 2008. He was replaced by Dario Franchitti; "I have enjoyed these last three seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, but will be moving on to pursue a very exciting opportunity for 2009," Wheldon said. It would later turn out to be a return to former team Panther Racing. Wheldon drove the Panther car to a second place finish in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, the second Indy 500 runner-up finish in a row for the team. However, his strong start to the season faded and Wheldon failed to crack the Top 10 in 7 of the last 8 races of the year. The following year Wheldon again showed strong at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finishing second at the 2010 Indianapolis 500. This gave Panther its third straight runner-up finish at Indy. This time, Wheldon remained competitive all year, challenging for wins on the oval tracks.On 9 August 2011, Ignite Game Technologies announced that Wheldon would assist the physics development for its online auto racing game, Simraceway. Wheldon commented "It was pretty obvious that Ignite was not looking to build just another racing game, so the opportunity to influence Simraceway's physics directly was pretty appealing. It later emerged Wheldon would also be playing an role in the company’s performance driving center at Infineon Raceway.Wheldon married his long-time personal assistant, Susie Behm, in 2008. They had 2 sons: Sebastian who was born in February 2009, and Oliver born in March 2011. The family lived in St. Petersburg, Florida.At the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 16 October 2011, Wheldon was involved in a 15-car accident during lap 11 of the race. The multi-car pile-up resulted in a red flag. Wheldon had to be extricated from his car and was airlifted to a local hospital with what were described as "serious injuries. He subsequently died of his injuries. He was 33 years old.

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