Surgery success for de Jong after Saturday crash

Dani?l De Jong is recovering in hospital at Li?ge after undergoing a four-hour surgery for a broken vertebrae following a violent accident in the GP2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday afternoon

De Jong was trying to overpower DAMS' Pierre Gasly in the high speed run down to Blanchiment early in the race, when the two cars made wheel-to-wheel contact. Gasly was subsequently penalised for causing the collision between the pair.

De Jong's car was briefly lifted into the air at the front and then went out of control into a head-on impact with the tyre barrier. The front of the car went deep into the barrier and it was some time before de Jong could be safely extracted from the car.

The 23-year-old Dutch driver was stretchered to the waiting ambulance and then flown by helicopter to hospital in Li?ge for a full medical assessment where he was diagnosed with a broken sixth vertebrae which needed immediate surgical attention.

A statement from the GP2 Series reported that the four hour surgery had gone well and that his situation was now considered as stable. He will remain in Li?ge hospital next week.

The statement added: "Dani?l's family and the MP Motorsport team would like to thank the medical team that treated him with success. They would also like to thank their colleagues, the GP2 drivers and teams and the Series organisers for their support."

Everyone involved in the GP2 Series, including those of us here at Crash.net, would like to wish Dani?l a speedy recovery.