Franchitti's injury promotes Wheldon to fore

The Englishman Dan Wheldon has been drafted in for his first Indy Racing League event of the season after his team-mate Dario Franchitti broke a bone in his back.

Wheldon, from Buckinghamshire, was due to make his debut for Andretti Green Racing at the Indianapolis 500 but will now race at Motegi in Japan this weekend after Franchitti was injured in a motorcycling accident.

The Scot crashed his machine after going through a hedge while out for a ride near his family home in Edinburgh on Friday. He suffered a fractured vertebrae. "The motorcycle had a mechanical problem," Franchitti said. "I tried to slow down but, of course, that was a bit difficult under the circumstances, and I wound up crashing through a hedge and landing on my back. This is the first time in 19 years of racing that I've missed an event due to injury and I'm terribly disappointed to miss the Motegi race."

Michael Andretti, the team owner, added: "First and most important, I'm glad Dario is OK. Andretti Green needs him 100 per cent healthy for Indy and the rest of the season because Dario is a vital part of this team."

The Scot, in his first season in the IRL driving for Andretti, will stay in Scotland until the end of the week and is expected to be out of action for two to three weeks but should be fit to race in next month's showpiece Indianapolis 500.

England's Gary Paffett will take a step closer to Formula One when he competes in the International Formula 3000 Championship this year.

Paffett won last season's German Formula Three Championship and has now been drafted into the Brand Motorsports team. The 22-year-old Bromley-born racer – who was named McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year in 1999 – will make his F3000 debut in the support race to the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola later this month, where he will hope to catch the eye of watching Formula One teams.