J.R. Hildebrand has broken a bone in his left hand following a last lap incident with Mikhail Aleshin in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Although Hildebrand had no more push-to-pass applications remaining, the Californian-born racer went to take the inside line as the duo approached the braking zone for Turn 1.
Meanwhile Aleshin defended his position just enough for there to be contact, resulting in Hildebrand making contact with the Russian and running straight on into the run-off area.
Despite retiring from the race Hildebrand was still officially classified 11th, one position ahead of Aleshin who managed to continue circulating albeit with damage to the rear of his car.
“At the end of the race, we all were bunched back up because of that last yellow,” explained Hildebrand.
“On the last lap, I was making a move on Aleshin and I could tell he was struggling.
“I was out of push-to-pass so I was trying to make a proper, full-out pass down the front straightaway.
“He had been starting to move over, not a major blocking manoeuvre but enough to assert his line.
“He hit the brake a lot earlier than I was expecting and I ended up running into the back of him.
“In doing so, it ripped the steering wheel from my hand and I ended up tweaking it. Hopefully I can get back to it before the next race.”
So far Hildebrand has not been cleared to return to the series, and according to INDYCAR medical director Geoffrey Billows will be re-evaluated in the next few days.
Aleshin initially finished the race tenth but was penalised afterwards by race officials and demoted to P12, one position behind Hildebrand.
Earlier in the race the Russian racer made contact with Tony Kanaan and damaged his front-wing.
It was the second race in succession Aleshin had had an altercation with the Brazilian, after the duo’s contact at St. Petersburg resulted in the controversial second caution period.
“Everything was going as planned and the strategy was perfect until I got together with Kanaan where I broke my front wing and I lost my pace,” said Aleshin.
“I felt like I could hold my position. Then, obviously Hildebrand crashed into my rear and destroyed my chance to make the top 10.”
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