Race ace on mend after injury

Wilson was involved in a single-car incident in practice for the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio raceway at the weekend. He lost control on turn one which sent the car airborne.

The Moorgate-born racer was transported  to MedCentral Hospital in Mansfield, Ohio, by ground transportation and was detained overnight.

He was taken to Indianapolis on Sunday to meet with specialists, having suffered a stable burst fracture of the T5—but thankfully with no spinal cord injury.

He will be treated with bracing and serial x-rays and will be unable to drive for a minimum of three months.

Said Wilson: "Obviously, I have a little bit of a backache, but I'm just frustrated to not be at the racetrack.

“I think that we just started to get our season turned around and the car was really good at Mid-Ohio and I'm disappointed about that. I'm just disappointed to not be the car, but my back is the most important thing.

“I'm going to try and get that to heal and get back to 100 per cent as soon as possible and get back in the car. As for myself, I'm feeling good and I'm already thinking about getting back to racing.”

And fellow Rotherham racer Dan Clarke will make his debut in the USA’s plum Nascar series this weekend.

The Swinton-born ace will pilot the Means Racing #52 Chevrolet at tomorrow’s big Watkins Glen Nascar Nationwide race.

The 27year old, now living in Indianapolis, will finally mark his foray into the Nascar championship after a sponsor setback earlier in the year cut short his Canadian Tire Series campaign.

He said: “This is a great moment for me. I've enjoyed a lot of success in open-wheel formula racing but I've wanted to try the Nascar route for a while now.

“I thought I would be racing full-time this year in Canadian Stock cars but that didn't work out and I had to move on. Now I have a shot at the Nascar Nationwide series which is an even bigger opportunity and I have butterflies in my stomach thinking about the weekend."