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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing Al Unser Jr. and rookie Naoki Hattori were injured in a shunt at Homestead during the first lap of Sunday's season opener race. Hattori lost control in turn 1 and collected Unser's Penske. Both cars impacted the outside wall hard. Rescue efforts were slow because of the extensive damage to both cars. Both drivers were airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Medical Center in Miami. Hattori suffered multiple fractures of his lower left leg and Unser broke his right ankle and tore a ligament in his left knee. While Unser is expected to be out of the car for about 4 to 6 weeks, Hattori will be sidelined for 4-6 months. Derrick Walker, Hattori's team owner commented: "We look for a speedy recovery for Naoki. Currently, we are assessing when his return might be. As soon as he is able, we will begin ramping up his test program to enable him to get back to competition as soon as he is able. For the Motegi event, we will not add another driver in place of Naoki." There is much speculation about Unser's replacement for the coming races, as it is unlikely that Penske will skip any events after scaling back to a one-car-effort in 1999. Andre Ribeiro, Unser's 1998 teammate, allegedly is unavailable as substitute. Possible stand-ins are "frequent substitute driver" Roberto Moreno, as well as Raul Boesel who filled in for Paul Tracy this weekend at Homestead. German Arnd Meier, who is without a CART ride in 1999, has announced his availability to both teams earlier this week.
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