A General Motors executive was involved in a bizarre incident on Sunday, as he crashed the pace car ahead of the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix.
Mark Reuss, who leads GM's design, engineering, safety and research and development program, was in the car with IndyCar official Mark Sandy when the Corvette ZR1 spun at the start of its first lap and struck the wall.
While the $120,000 vehicle was badly damaged, the duo escaped without injuries and Reuss got out of the car to assess the damage after the car hit the wall.
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"We are thankful that there were no serious injuries," GM said in a statement.
"Both the pace car driver and the series official were taken to the infield care center, where they were checked, cleared and released. It is unfortunate that this incident happened. Many factors contributed, including weather and track conditions. The car's safety systems performed as expected."
The incident resulted in a delayed start for the Grand Prix, as officials had to deploy a back-up pace car—a rarity in motor racing—while marshals removed debris from the track around Turn 2.
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As a result, the cars that had lined up behind the pace car were brought to a halt on the track before then returning to the pits, while the race began at 4.17 p.m. EDT, 27 minutes later than the scheduled starting time.
While the incident was highly unusual, IndyCar drivers said they felt sorry for Reuss.
"I felt really bad for whoever was in the pace car," Will Power, who last week triumphed in the Indianapolis 500, told the Detroit News.
"It's very easy to do, and the traction control must have been turned off. Wasn't really his fault."
Eventual race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay added:
"That's a testament to the Corvette and 750 horsepower. I've driven one before and you don't want to jump on the gas. That's a fast car. It's something that can happen and the race hadn't started, so no big deal."
Hunter-Reay snapped a three-year winless streak as he finished ahead of Power on Sunday, after ending the first half of the Detroit's IndyCar doubleheader in second place a day earlier.
The Texas native trailed teammate Alexander Rossi before the latter, who had started from pole position, slid off the track with less than seven laps remaining and could only finish 12th.
The win put Hunter-Reay in fourth place in the standings, 31 points behind Power.