Franchitti Injured in Houston

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Four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti has fractured his spine and broken his right ankle in a high-speed crash at the Houston Grand Prix.

The Scot, 40, suffered multiple fractures after hitting the track wall.

His car flipped into the air following a final-lap collision with Takuma Sato, with at least 13 spectators injured by debris that flew over safety fencing.

Franchitti's team owner Chip Ganassi said: "His ankle and back are a little sore. He is going to be okay."

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Franchitti hit the back of Sato's car and was propelled into the air and against the fence. His car exploded into several pieces but did not catch fire.

Sato said his car "caught the marbles", chunks of rubber that come off the tyres and lie on the track, before brushing the wall and losing momentum.

"A couple of cars passed me as I was offline and in turn five," said the Japanese driver. "I got very loose and Dario and I came together."

IndyCar later released a statement confirming Franchitti was awake on his arrival at the hospital and would be monitored overnight

The statement read: "IZOD IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti was admitted awake and alert to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in Houston for a concussion, spinal fracture that will require no surgery and a fracture to the right ankle. He will be kept overnight."

Actress Ashley Judd, who married Franchitti in 2001, though the pair separated earlier this year, tweeted that she was on her way to Houston to see him.

Race promoters said 11 spectators were treated at the track while two more were transferred to hospital for evaluation.

Franchitti's former team-mate Dan Wheldon, from England, died in a crash at the Las Vegas Indy 300 in October 2011.

Will Power, who won the Grand Prix, said the accident reminded him of the Las Vegas crash, where he and Wheldon both hit the fence.

"Yes, that's what it reminded me of," he said. "I just saw Dario's car and him sitting in it with a lot of damage. I hate seeing that. We try to keep these cars on the ground."

Franchitti's team-mate Scott Dixon, who leads the overall standings, echoed Power's thoughts.

"The smells and the visuals, you have the remnants of Vegas popping into your head, with you coming around the corner and you can't drive through it because there's a field of debris," he said.

"There was nowhere near the amount of damage that we saw (in 2011), but seeing the replay was a big shock."

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Memorial Race for Dan Wheldon

A memorial race for IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon who died while competing in Las Vegas is to be held later.

The 33-year-old, from Emberton, Buckinghamshire, was killed in the race in October.

The Dan Wheldon Memorial Kart Race will take place at Daytona Milton Keynes from 19:40 GMT and raise funds for The Alzheimer's Society.

Drivers who have pledged their support include Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and David Coulthard.

The endurance event has proved so popular that the grid has been stretched to its maximum with 36 teams of four drivers due to line up.

Members of Wheldon's family, who chose the charity to benefit from the event, will be joining the professional drivers in the race.'One-off event'

Race organiser and friend of father-of-two Wheldon, Johnny Mowlem, said the cost of the race was being covered by the professional drivers taking part and would be a one-off special event.

"It's not often that you get professional racing drivers parting with their hard-earned cash in these particular situations," he said.

"For me this was just a one-off and I wanted to go and do to pull everyone together that had known Dan and loved him. I just wanted to send him off in a really happy, and hopefully a really nice, evening."

The two-hour endurance race will start at 19:40 GMT but due to limited spectator capacity, only drivers and their guests will be allowed in.

IndyCar can Learn from Formula1

Former world champion Nigel Mansell says IndyCar can learn from Formula 1 after the death of Dan Wheldon.

Briton Wheldon, 33, was involved in a 15-car crash in a race in Las Vegas.

Some IndyCar contests take place on oval circuits surrounded by a perimeter wall, while F1 races usually employ barriers well away from the track.

Mansell told BBC Radio 5 live: "In Indy racing there is simply nowhere to go. When an accident happens you are into the wall in a split second."

Mansell, who won the F1 world title in 1992 and the IndyCar equivalent a year later, added: "This is why Formula 1 does an exemplary job. The tarmac runs off so the driver has time to decelerate the car."

Mansell said: "To have 34 cars travelling at at 220mph on a mile-and-a-half long circuit, there are too many cars on the track.

"The trouble is there are no small accidents when accidents happen. There were a number of rookie drivers and others driving in their first race of the season.

"I heard Jody and he said it well. The smallest mistakes turn into catastrophic ones and Dan was on the receiving end of it."

Derek Warwick, president of the British Racing Drivers' Club and a former F1 driver, claims that a host of changes are needed in IndyCar racing.

Warwick echoes Mansell's criticism of the number of cars on the track and feels that F1 is safer because their drivers are better.

He told 5 Live Sport: "They do an enormous amount but they need to understand the quality of the drivers that are in the field as well.

"With Formula 1 the drivers that go into a Formula 1 race are all great drivers who have won championships from working their way up from Formula 3 to GP2 before they get a super licence to be able to race.

"I sometimes question the depth of talent in IndyCar races and that will lead to inexperience and the inexperienced generally end up having accidents. They need to tweak what they're doing a little bit."