[seatlyled]

Thankfully Maria is alive. We all wish her the best for her, and pray for her speedy recovery, but losing an eye pretty much ends her racing career.
The length of time she was apparently unconcious is also troubleing, but hopefully she will have no neurological issues related to that.

Apparently, she had pulled into the temporary 'pits' after making a straight line 'installation' run and was stopping, or did stop, to converse with the crew when the car suddenly accelerated. There were a lot of people around so Maria likely had few options are far as where she could steer the car as it accelerated towards the rear of the truck. It appeared from what still photos I have seen that the car went pretty much straight at the rear of the truck.

Had there been a canopy on the car, the outcome would no doubt have been different, but it's also quite possible a deformable canopy would have still caused injuries. It's possible a canopy could have contributed to fatal injuries. Since there was no canopy, how it may have helped, or hindered, in the incident is just speculation.
A damaged canopy may have made it more difficult to render aid as immediately to Maria as not having a canopy.