Gil de Ferran is hurting from last Sunday's nasty accident in the closing stages of the Indy Racing League show at Phoenix International Raceway, but the two-time CART champion is also thankful he was in good HANS.

The 35-year-old open wheel star suffered a fracture in his neck and lower back, plus a concussion, after tangling with Michael Andretti and smashing backwards into the first turn wall on an impact that registered 75 Gs.

	Gil de Ferran, center, was removed from his car by aid workers after a nasty wreck in Phoenix.

Thanks primlarily to the Head and Neck System, a safety device developed by Dr. Robert Hubbard and sports car racer Jim Downing which allows the driver's head to move with his torso during an accident, de Ferran's injuries were minor compared to what they could have been in such a blunt-force situation.

The IRL's new gearbox also helped dissipate the energy.

"Gil had a minimum cervical fracture and without the HANS you would have been looking at a pretty severe fracture, I'm confident of that," said Dr. Steve Olvey, the CART medical director who operates out of Miami and is helping treat de Ferran, who lives in Fort Lauderdale.

"On a direct rear impact hit like he took, the HANS keeps the compression loads on the neck reduced. Without the HANS, his injuries would have been much worse."

In the past year alone the HANS has helped Robby McGehee (Indy), Sam Hornish Jr. (IROC at Daytona) and de Ferran (Joliet and Phoenix) escape big crashes with minimal damage. CART and Formula One have made the HANS mandatory, while it's one of the three safety devices mandated in NASCAR and optional in the IRL.

"I've been the perfect crash-test dummy for the HANS ... one forward impact and one rear impact," said de Ferran, who will miss next month's IRL race at Motegi, Japan, but should be ready for Indianapolis in May.

"I think it's (HANS) proven from a lot of crashes to be very beneficial and I'm glad I was wearing it. But as far as being the crash test dummy, I'll be happy to pass along that duty to someone else."

Fellow Brazilian Rubens Barricello and other F1 regulars have been moaning about how physically uncomfortable the HANS makes them in the cockpit. Barricello even blamed his accident in the F1 opener on the HANS.

"I think people get confused as to what is important in the HANS issue," said de Ferran, who said he's thankful for Dr. Hank Bock, Dr. Olvey and the fact IRL and CART work together in terms of safety. "It is relatively uncomfortable and certainly not as comfortable as having nothing around your neck.

"But that's not the point. You accept it, take steps to make it less uncomfortable and deal with it. I'm sure people will learn and develop the HANS further and maybe we're taking the first steps.

"At certain angles it has proven very beneficial and at others it's been neutral but it's obviously done it's job in several situations."

Olvey added: "A lot of the F1 teams didn't take the HANS seriously and didn't react and you can't get acclimated to it overnight. We took three years to get where we are today in the CART and the IRL."

Knocked unconscious in both accidents, de Ferran says wearing a neck brace and dealing with the discomfort of fractures isn't as bad as his head injury.

"Another concussion is no fun, that's the part that bothers me the most, because you become a little slower," he said. "It's funny, you're smart enough to realize you're slow and that's the part I like the least."

But the personable veteran says his enthusiasm isn't dampened.

"I guess the real test is when I get back in a car but right now I'm not thinking about anything but healing up and racing again."

Barron gets a real shot
Alex Barron has always displayed ability but never had a top-shelf ride in CART or the IRL. Until now.

And while Barron doesn't enjoy the fact he's replacing an injured de Ferran in Japan next month, he's been around long enough to understand opportunity plays no favorites.

"It's all about timing, being in the right place at the right time and even though you never want to see anybody get hurt, we all know it's part of this business and I'm just appreciative that Roger (Penske) called me," said Barron, whose steady IRL ride with Larry Blair folded after 2002.

"It's a great feeling, especially when you're unemployed."

This will be Barron's second shot with Team Penske, but his first with front-line equipment. When he subbed for the injured Andre Ribeiro in 1999, Barron was driving a bad chassis (Penske) with a slow engine (Mercedes) and the wrong tires (Goodyear). He started out his CART career in 1998 with an experimental chassis (Eagle) and engine (Toyota) with Goodyear tires as Firestone was dominating. Twice in 2000 he was leading CART races late for Dale Coyne's under-funded team only to suffer engine failure.

"For sure, this is my best opportunity ever and I've been looking for it for a long time," said the 32-year-old Californian, who will be wheeling a Dallara/Toyota at Motegi -- a place he raced twice in CART. "Right now it's just for Japan but, if we do well, things can happen."

Boat nears deal
IRL veteran Billy Boat has been watching so far in 2003 but says he will be on the Indianapolis 500 entry blank as Hornish's teammate for Panther Racing.

"I don't know the sponsorship or situation right now but the car will be entered with me in it. That's the plan and I'm excited," said the six-time Indy starter and former pole winner.

"Right now it's Indy only but hopefully we can find some money and keep going past that."

Boat was an owner/driver last year with partner Mike Curb but they couldn't secure the financing to continue.

Notes
For years, the Copper World Classic at Phoenix hosted USAC midgets, sprints, Silver Crown and supermodifieds and drew crowds of over 30,000. But, since it was thrown into the IRL weekend, it's lost two of its divisions (sprints and supers) plus it's luster -- not to mention much of the crowd. "It's a damn shame what's happened to this event," said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. "It used to be a big deal for these guys and it was a great way to kick off their season. Now it's a non-event that has no presence but maybe we can do something about that next year." Davis wants to get a couple major sponsors and either reinstate the Copper World to its original February date as a stand alone weekend or move it to another track ... The tale of two open wheel series: the first two IRL races at Homestead, Fla. and Phoenix drew poor crowds but good TV ratings (1.8 and 1.5) while CART had good turnouts at St. Petersburg, Fla., and Monterrey, Mexico but abysmal TV numbers (0.2 and 0.15). There were almost as many people in the grandstands at Monterrey as watched the race on TV ... With or without Sarah Fisher, the IRL car count for Motegi will be 23 because Honda has added two more bullets in an attempt to win for the first time ever (it was 0-for-4 in CART) on its home track. Ex-CART regular Shinji Nakano will drive for Greg Beck, while Greg Ray has already been added to the mix. Beck is working on running Nakano at Indy. Fisher's status remains in limbo, as she has no full-time sponsor.