The organisers of the American Le Mans Series have confirmed that de Ferran Motorsport pit crew member Keith Jones is in a 'critical condition', following a pit lane fuelling accident on Saturday during the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio.
A brief statement to the media noted that he has been transported by medical helicopter to The Ohio State University Medical Centre in Columbus, where he is now being treated.
"As of Saturday evening, he was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the hospital," added the official statement.
"Members of the de Ferran Motorsports team, including drivers Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud, joined his family at the hospital."
The accident occurred early on in the race, while Pagenaud was behind the wheel. The #66 Panasonic ELS Sound de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01b car, which started from the pole position with team owner and former Indy 500 champion Gil de Ferran at the wheel, led the LMP2 class from the start to lap 40.
de Ferran then jumped from the cockpit and handed the driving chores to Pagenaud. The 24-year-old star drove brilliantly in his stint before pitting on lap 68.
While the de Ferran team changed four Michelin tyres and refuelled the car, a fire broke out in the team's pit area. Pagenaud stopped immediately and jumped from the cockpit. The ALMS safety team was on site quickly to extinguish the flames.
However, some crew members sustained injuries in the incident and Jones was transported to hospital. The team's race was concluded immediately.
"It was an unfortunate situation with a pit fire. We had a problem with the unplugging of the fuel hose and the car caught on fire. It is tough day for our team since we were running very strong," de Ferran reflected.
"Simon was doing a great job and pressuring for the lead. But that is not important right now. We are concerned for our team people. We are a close-knit organisation but very young as a group. So something like this [incident] is very difficult for everyone at de Ferran Motorsports."
Further updates to follow as we get it...
