Clarke: Not much to say.

Dan Clarke's exclusion from the opening round of Champ Car's European Tour at Zolder marked a clamp-down on a driver many felt had over-stepped the mark on numerous occasions, but the Briton remained tight-lipped about the incident that caused his downfall.

Clarke was accused of driving recklessly in the opening moments of morning practice at the Grand Prix of Belgium, carrying excess speed into the opening lap of the meeting and causing an incident that ended the day for local favourite Jan Heylen and ruling both himself and fellow Brit Justin Wilson out of the crucial 75-minute fact-finding session.

While Wilson was able to take part in the afternoon proceedings, Champ Car race director Tony Cotman decided that enough was enough with Clarke and commuted the probation had had been on into full suspension for Zolder, with participation at Assen next weekend also under review.

"There isn't really much to say about it," Clarke told Crash.net shortly before the press conference that confirmed his downfall, "I was on an out-lap, where cars are going at different speeds, so you have to make judgement calls.

"You can never really argue an incident on an out-lap, but the main thing is that we move forward and nobody loses out. I particularly hope that Jan, in his home race, can make it out and have a good weekend."

Unaware of what was to happen to his chances, Clarke - who finished a career-best second last time out - remained confident that his Minardi Team USA mount would be fit for action.

"The guys are working full-time now, so it will be a close call for qualifying," he revealed, "but we'll really have to wait and see."

That work will now benefit whoever Minardi Team USA decides can replace Clarke, with Mario Dominguez the most likely stand-in.