Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner and holder of the closed-course land speed record, died Friday while racing with his son at The Concourse Club in Florida, multiple former colleagues confirmed to The Associated Press. He was 56.
Fellow Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan said de Ferran was with his son, Luke, at the private course in Opa-Locka, Florida, when he pulled over and said he wasn’t feeling well. Kanaan said de Ferran apparently suffered a heart attack and could not be revived.
What awful news. de Ferran won the Indy 500 in 2003, which meant that he wasn’t around when I fell in love with the series during the practice sessions for the 2004 race. He did, however, race in the American Le Mans series when I was just getting into sports car racing, and as someone I recognized from reading Indy 500 programs, he was easy to pick as a favorite. He will be missed.
Michael Miller 