The spectator who suffered a depressed skull fracture after being hit by debris at the Grand Prix of ﷺSt Petersburg in March has opened legal proceedings against the Verizon IndyCar Series, seeking damage🦩s in excess of $15,000.

Brigitte Hofstetter was injured while standing in a concessions area with her husband Gregory. It's believed that on-track contact between two cars caused a piece of the new aerodynamic bodywork being used for the first time in a race that weekend to fly off and over the fenc🐷ing around the track.

Mrs Hofstetter's suit seeks damages for pain, suffering and loss of consortium, a legal term typically referring to the deprivati♕on of the normal benefits of a husband/wife relationship for a period following an accident. She is expected to make a full recovery in due course.

The suit is based on the allegation that IndyCar did not carry out sufficient testing of the new aero kits and failed to ensure that they were strong enough to survive even relatively light contact without detaching and flying off into spectator areas. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the suit alleges that the body🌠work as raced that wℱeekend was "extremely dangerous and unsafe."

In the we𓆉ek after the race, in light of Mrs Hofstetter's injuries, IndyCar mandated a number of changes to the aero kits provided by Honda an♑d Chevrolet to improve their robustness and ensure the chances of any recurrence of what happened at St Pete were minimised.

The owner and operator of the event, Green Savoree, is also named in the suit on the grounds of not doing enough to warn spectators of the danger of attending the race. Many tickets for motor racing events routinely carry a warning as a legal requirement to remind fans that any high speed race is a potentially d🌃angerous ev💧ent that they attend at their own risk, but this case will test whether that is indeed deemed a sufficient waiver under Florida law.

Also targeted by the lawsuit is Smith Fence which provided the barriers aro🌼und the circuit who are cited for not providing adequate protection for the spectators. The Hoffstetter's attorneys Justin C Johnson and Christopher M Rotunda previously indicated that the city of St Petersburg is also likely to be included in the action, but has not been at this initial stage.

The suit was filed in Pinell🌳as County Circuit Court on Friday and would require a jury trial. IndyCar officials have made no comment so far on the legal action.