Rookie Fittipaldi Working Hard, Ahead of Recovery Schedule after Tough Break
May 17, 2018 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Pietro Fittipaldi is still squirming in a wheelchair, but epitomizing the predictably optimistic perspective of a racer, he’s pushing to get back on a racetrack as soon as possible.
That means in a go-kart next week. And ideally, if his extensive rehabilitation from two leg fractures progresses smoothly, in an Indy car for the Honda Indy 200 on July 29 at Mid-Ohio.
“Now it’s my other race,” Fittipaldi said Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Now I’m focused on getting back as fast as possible, you know, getting back to be able to do a good job.”
Fittipaldi, a Dale Coyne Racing rookie, spoke in the IMS Media Center as Verizon IndyCar Series cars practiced for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The 21-year-old grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi was expected to make a much-anticipated IMS debut, but a crash May 4 in a World Endurance Championship sports car race in Belgium changed that.
Sidelined but refusing to be subtracted from the environment, Brazilian-American Fittipaldi parked his motorhome behind Gasoline Alley, where many of the other drivers reside during the Month of May. That’s also near Dr. Terry Trammell and support staff, who work just yards away at the IU Health Emergency Infield Medical Center.
Teammate Sebastien Bourdais, who recovered from pelvis and hip fractures suffered in a frightening “500” qualifying crash last year, visited Fittipaldi on Wednesday.
“I was speaking to him for an hour or so,” Fittipaldi said. “He was telling me all about his recovery, his rehab, how he got back in around eight to 10 weeks, something like that. It's obviously very inspiring.”
Coyne said he never doubted four-time Indy car champion Bourdais would bounce back. Bourdais won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and is third in the season points.
Although Fittipaldi has only started one series race — finishing 23rd at Phoenix — Coyne sees the same resilient determination in his young driver. The team gave Fittipaldi a radio, so even when confined in the motorhome, he can listen to what’s happening on the track.
“He’s a racer,” Coyne said. “This is the environment he lives in. These are the people that support him. You always learn. You've got to be here to learn. Every day there's something to learn, whether he's in the pits or just a radio away, people talking to him at night or in the morning. He's going to learn every day. It's great to have him here.”
Fittipaldi looks forward to Grandpa Emerson visiting him at IMS next week. Uncle Max Papis, a series race steward, visited him in the hospital after the crash and helped coordinate communications with Trammell.
Aggressive rehabilitation involves daily physical therapy with PitFit Training and Jim Leo. Coyne said one of the most challenging aspects of recovery is preventing an anxious kid from pushing too hard.
“It’s good to be in the racing environment,” Fittipaldi said, “because it keeps me active.
“I'm already weight-bearing on the left leg, which is quite early, but the doctor has been pushing me quite hard. We're already doing that here. Then getting the mobility back on the right ankle is going to be important, which we already are.”
Rookie Zachary Claman De Melo, who filled in for Fittipaldi and finished 12th in the INDYCAR Grand Prix, will drive the No. 19 Paysafe Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in the “500” on Sunday, May 27.
While he said this setback won’t discourage him from racing elsewhere, Fittipaldi reiterated his No. 1 priority for the remainder of this season.
“Doing these last five races are going to be very important,” he said of the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Fittipaldi sounded like an experienced veteran when his first question to doctors pertained to how quickly he could return to racing.
“That’s the mentality we have most of the time,” he said.
“They never believe them,” Coyne said of recovery timetable estimates given to drivers. “They want to cut that number in half.”