PDM Racing driver Jimmy Kite provided an update Thursday morning on the status of the team’s No. 18 Panoz/Honda/Firestone after Kite crashed during practice Wednesday. Kite was unhurt in the accident in Turn 1, and the car suffered moderate damage to the left front.
JIMMY KITE: (About cause of accident): “The gearbox broke right where the left rear lower A-arm hooks into the gearbox, and what it did going in to the corner, basically, the gearbox broke and let the lower A-arm pull out. It unloaded the left-rear suspension and picked up a whole bunch of tow, and I was merely a passenger in that. The positive part was that I was already slowing down and getting ready to come in, and I was only doing about 190 when I spun, so if I was up over 200, it probably would’ve torn up a lot more than it did. I got lucky that we weren’t running that quick. ”
(About return to track): “We’ll be back out on track the first thing in the (Friday) morning. They almost have everything apart, have it checked. We know what we need, so it’s actually going back together right now. They plan on having it back together, on the pad and ready to go so that the first thing in the morning we can go out and see what we have and pick up where we left off. ”
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