Jos on track for French return.

Jos Verstappen is confident of racing at the French Grand prix next weekend, despite injuring his neck in a testing crash at Magny-Cours earlier this week.

The Dutchman crashed heavily at the second corner of the French circuit, after a mechanical failure pitched his Arrows off the track and into the wall. The team suspended its programme while the car was analysed, but later resumed with Verstappen's Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa and a fresh A21 chassis.

Verstappen, meanwhile, returned to Holland for treatment, and has reported that his condition is reacting well to intensive physiotherapy.

''I'm doing okay,'' he revealed to Arrows' official web-site, ''In fact, I'm doing better than expected. My injuries were not as bad as we first thought, and I've spent a lot of time with the physiotherapist every day since the crash. My neck and back are still a little bit stiff and sore, but I'll definitely be back in the car for the French Grand Prix.''

''He has responded incredibly well,'' confirmed Arrows physio Simon Jones, ''It was a nasty shunt, and caused some serious muscle damage to his neck.''

Verstappen finished fifth in the last round of the world championship in Canada.