Legendary open wheel racer Gil de Ferran has died. The Associated Press reports de Ferran was racing with his son in Florida when he pulled over claiming he wasn’t feeling well. Fellow driver Tony Kanaan told the Associated Press de Ferran apparently suffered a heart attack.
De Ferran won two Champ Car titles while driving for Roger Penske Racing in 2000 and 2001. He also raced in the Indycar, winning the 2003 Indianapolis 500, again racing for Roger Penske. De Ferran also set a closed-course land speed record in 2000 while qualifying at the California Speedway in the then-CART series. He qualified with a lap of 241.428 miles per hour. That record still stands to this day. While never winning a CART or Indycar Championship, he won seven CART races and 5 Indycar races.
An icon in the racing world and in his home country of Brazil, many racing series have been posting their condolences on social media.
Gil de Ferran is survived by his wife and two children. He was 56 years old.
We here at Fantom Sports Industries would like to extend our sincerest condolences to the de Ferran family. RIP Gil de Ferran.
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