McNish escapes shunt with bruising.

Allan McNish emerged unhurt from a massive accident mid-way through the scheduled one-hour qualifying session at the Japanese Grand Prix, and looks likely to be able to race in tomorrow's final F1 event despite an impact estimated to be in excess of 150mph.

McNish went off at the high-speed 130R corner but, despite crashing through the barrier on the outside of the circuit, was able to leave the car on his own and with seemingly few injuries. As a precautionary measure, the Scot was taken to the Suzuka circuit medical centre by FIA doctor, Professor Syd Watkins but, after an examination and an x-ray to his knee, he was given the all-clear and it looks likely that he will take part in tomorrow's warm-up session, although a final precautionary check-up will take place on Sunday morning. The team is presently investigating the cause of the accident.

"First of all, I feel fine," McNish said when he returned to the Toyota pit, "I have had a check-up and my knee is sore, but I am confident of getting back into the car tomorrow morning.

"Basically, everything felt good through the 130R corner, but the car suddenly snapped into a big oversteer and I reversed heavily into the barrier. My natural instinct after the crash was just to make sure everything was still in working order and, thankfully, it is. I have got to see the medical crew tomorrow morning for a check-up, but I am confident. The best thing is to get back in the cockpit as soon as possible."

The Toyota team endured a frustrating qualifying session, with McNish's accident being followed by team-mate Mika Salo's struggle with understeer that restricted him to 13th on the grid.

"I thought we could have gone a bit better around this track," the Finn admitted, "I gave it my absolute maximum, but we do not seem to be able to get rid of the understeer on the car. I was going well on my final run, but a car ran wide in front of me and I collected some grass on my tyres, losing me a couple of important tenths. All in all it was disappointing, but I am very pleased to hear that Allan is okay after his crash."

"We are all relieved that Allan is okay after his accident - it says a lot for the safety in Formula One cars," team technical co-ordinator Keizo Takahashi said, "We are sure Allan will be all right to race tomorrow - nothing would make the Japanese fans happier!"