Former F1 racer Scott Speed has broken his back in a rallying incident in the United States.
The former Toro Rosso racer Scott Speed has suffered back injuries in a hard landing while taking part in a rally in the US. Now driving for Subaru in the American Rallycross Championship, Speed was taking part in the Nitro World Games when he landed hard from a jump.
A statement from Subaru Motorsports USA said: “Unfortunately, Scott Speed suffered a back injury during the first qualifying heat after a hard landing over a jump. He was able to finish the heat and exit the car, but has been transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation. Scott will miss the remainder of the event.”
Speed himself has issued his own statement via social media, outlining his injuries. Amongst them is a broken T6 thoracic nerve: “Sorry for a late update. After landing hard in Q1 I broke my back. Was rushed to the local hospital for checks. CT scan confirmed a destroyed t6.. then was taken to a spine specialist at University of Utah. Finally got an MRI done around 3am.. we found I have 3 fractured vertebrae. Waiting now for the surgeons to give us the game plan. Last night was easily the scariest and most painful time I can remember. Was in a pretty dark place.”
“But I want to thank so much everyone who came and spent time with me. No way I could have made it thru alone. @peterbminnig will forever have a place in my heart for all that he did and Luckily the best cousin in the world @jekka_arellanolives here to play mama bear for me… so excited to see Amanda and dad here soon. Thanks for all the kind text messages!”
According to SpinalInjury101, a broken T6 results in the following:
- Nerves affect muscles of the trunk (abdominal and back muscles) depending on the level of injury.
- Usually results in paraplegia
- Normal upper-body movement
- Fair to good ability to control and balance trunk while in the seated position.
However, this prognosis for Speed is unconfirmed. On Instagram, Robert Wickens, who suffered a spinal injuries 12 months ago in an IndyCar crash wished the racer well saying: “Just a speed bump (no pun intended). Hang in there buddy. Let me know if there is anything questions I can help answer! We are T6 fracture buddies!!”
Speed raced with Toro Rosso in 2006 and 2007 before being replaced in favour of Sebastian Vettel. Speed left Formula 1 and has since raced in NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula E, and ARCA.
