Zonta Hurt In Practice Crash.

Brazilian hero Ricardo Zonta was prevented from qualifying for his home grand prix by a practice crash on Saturday morning.


The rookie British American Racing driver was languishing down the order at the time of the accident, which caused the session to be halted after only 31 minutes, and was searching for a compromise between suitable downforce settings for Interlagos' fast straights and twisty infield.


Although Zonta walked away from the scene of the incident, a routine medical inspection revealed that he had sustained damage to both his feet and legs, with one foot possibly broken by the impact with the barriers. The Brazilian's car appeared to get away from him as it ran on to the wet trackside grass, and hit the barriers with sufficient force for them to require a complete rebuild between sessions.


BAR did not have a suitably qualified reserve in Brazil, leaving Jacques Villeneuve to complete the meeting as the team's sole driver.