Exiting Turn 2, the smoke quickly turned into a small fire, and by the time she approached Turn 3, flames began to engulf the white and orange Indy car. De Silvestro pulled over and stopped on the infield grass, and climbed from the car unharmed as the back of the open-wheel machine spewed flames and black smoke.
With the charred car back in the garage, the team soon found the root of the fire – a faulty refueling buckeye that allowed ethanol to pour onto the exhaust headers.
“We were going down the straightaway then I looked in my mirror and saw the car was on fire,” said de Silvestro. “It’s definitely unfortunate because the car is pretty burnt down, and it’s really frustrating that it seems like fire follows me. Maybe this time is third times the charm, and hopefully the team can get the car back together as quickly as possible.
“Until now, everything was working fine, and it’s just annoying because it’s a pretty big setback for us, but I have four great teammates and that will make it easier for us to continue moving forward.
“Hopefully we’ll be on track tomorrow.”