A mannequin causes a curious incident at the IndyCar race at Barber Motorsport Park – the drivers take it with humor
The history of motorsport is rich in curious incidents. But what happened on April 28, 2024 during the IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham is probably unique: a mannequin fell onto the track in the middle of the race and was left lying on the side of the track
The artificial mannequin even has a name: Georgina. In 2016, the eccentric track owner George Barber hung the doll from the pedestrian bridge at turn 8. Since then, she has hung there as a symbol of the race track – until she sailed to the ground on the 52nd lap of the IndyCar race.
Foyt driver Santino Ferrucci was one of the first to learn of the incident. He radioed his pit box: “The lady hanging off the bridge has fallen off!” A report that caused laughter among his pit crew. But team boss Larry Foyt quickly reminded his driver to stay focused: “10-4. Just carry on as before.”
Several drivers dodged the dummy lying right on the edge of the track. But debutant Luca Ghiotto, of all people, drove into the fiberglass and plastic dummy in his first IndyCar race and tore off its right hand.
While the race is usually neutralized for even the smallest of incidents in US racing, the IndyCar officials initially dispensed with the yellow flag on Sunday. It was only when the safety car came onto the track three laps later following an accident involving Sting Ray Robb that the stewards were able to recover the dummy that had been involved in the accident.
After the race, most of the drivers commented on the ultimately minor incident with the necessary humor. Penkse driver Will Power explained that he knew immediately that it was not a real person. “I knew exactly what it was,” he says. “It was the woman hanging there. They really need to get some good cables,” he advises the route operator.
And Power imagines how the incident could have ended even more curiously: “It would have been funny if it had ended up in someone’s cockpit,” says the Australian, thinking of a possible radio message in this case: “There’s a lady attacking me!”
Powers’ team-mate Scott McLaughlin, who was leading the race at the time of the incident and also won in the end, couldn’t laugh about it at first, because he initially thought the race had only been neutralized because of the dummy. “I was a bit angry,” he says. “Then I realized that someone else had crashed into the barriers. If I had lost to a lady who had crashed…”
McLaughlin also hopes that the track operator will fasten “Georgina”, with whom he posed for a photo after the race, more securely in future. “I love the artistic stuff, but it probably doesn’t need to be over the track to trigger a yellow like that. Maybe that will change next year.”
Teammate Power even suggested putting “Georgina” in some kind of mausoleum: “They should put her in a glass box to preserve her body. Mummify her!”
