Alex Wurz injured at Valencia testing - Coulthard lucky

[Gerard]

From Autosport:

An incident-packed final day of testing at Valencia saw both drama and the unexpected as the rear wing of David Coulthard’s McLaren-Mercedes failed at over 180 mph, Alex Wurz set the second fastest time of the day before badly injuring his right leg and Benetton team mate Giancarlo Fisichella topped the time sheets.

On day three of preparations for next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the high-downforce Hungaroring circuit, David Coulthard brought proceedings to an early halt as the rear wing of his McLaren failed on the approach to the first corner of the twisty Valenica circuit.

The mild-mannered Scot attempted to put his MP4-15 into a spin in order to avoid a head-on collision with the barriers. The car span five times before hitting the tyre wall destroying the right front and rear suspension.

Coulthard emerged from the car without apparent injury and made his way back to the pits unaided. Upon arriving at the McLaren garage his only comment was: 'Well I’m definitely awake now.'

The drama did not stop there as Benetton’s Alex Wurz slammed into the tyre wall at one of the Spanish circuit’s tight infield corners 10 minutes before the close of play. The impact - thought to be due to driver error - caused the lower wishbone of the right front suspension to pierce the monocoque of the B200, cutting the Austrian’s leg very close to the bone.

Wurz climbed from the cockpit and immediately collapsed. He was taken to Valencia hospital where X-rays have shown the leg not to be broken. It is unsure whether he will miss next weekend’s Hungarian race.

Before his accident, Wurz had posted the second fastest time of the day just 0.19s behind team mate Fisichella’s lap of 1m15.78s. The Benetton’s topped the time sheets throughout the day and were the only cars to dip below the 1m16s mark.

Third place went to Jos Verstappen in the ever-improving Arrows. The Dutchman concentrated on a high-downforce set-up for Hungary and also carried out testing work on a new Repsol oil. Apparently unfazed by his earlier incident, Coulthard took fourth spot after taking over the car of McLaren test driver Olivier Panis.

As the teams head to Hungary, second placed man in the championship DC, will hope to steer clear of both wing failures and also the dizziness which befell Jean Alesi post Hockenheim. After an incident during which his car span round six times, Alesi suffered stomach pains and vomiting. The Frenchman is however, now said to be fit enough to race next weekend in Budapest.

1 G Fisichella Benetton-Supertec...1m15.78s 39
2 A Wurz Benetton-Supertec.........1m15.97s 38
3 J Verstappen Arrows-Supertec.... 1m16.16s 40
4 D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes.... 1m16.59s 26
5 L Burti Jaguar.................. 1m16.91s 50
6 E Bernoldi Sauber-Petronas...... 1m17.31 62
7 R Schumacher Williams-BMW....... 1m17.44s 47