Callum Ilott, who broke his right hand in an accident on lap 68 in the Indianapolis 500, has been cleared to race in this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series event at Road America, the eighth race of the year.
IndyCar medical officials re-evaluated the 22-year-old Brit’s broken right wrist and approved him for competition. He only missed a total of one race from the injury.
Santino Ferrucci stepped into Ilott’s role for the Detroit Grand Prix last week. The series’ super-sub made his third start on the season and first on a non-oval, he qualified 17th and accomplished a 21st place result.
Ilott was in attendance for the event as he observed the team’s performance and Ferrucci’s speed. Due to not having a teammate in his rookie season, he wanted to get a baseline of how he is doing as a driver.
“Having spent a week out of the car obviously in Detroit, looking at the racing from a slightly different angle, I can happily say I am going to be back in the car for Road America,” Ilott said. “I have been cleared by the IndyCar Medical Team today. We looked quite extensively at my hand and the risk of further damage is a lot lower. It’s still a factor, but the track surface in Road America is a lot less bumpy than Detroit.
“Looking at Road America, I haven’t been there yet, but it’s a good high speed fun track and quite long as well. There are some good overtaking zones, so it should be a fun weekend with a lot of action. I am super excited to get back in, coming off the momentum we had at the Indy GP we should be on for a good weekend.”
As a rookie, Ilott is in unique situation because of his team, Juncos Hollinger Racing, are also in their first season of full-time competition. The driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet currently stands 25th in the championship with 71 points earned over six starts.
