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Doohan escapes injury after huge practice crash in Japan
Jack Doohan avoided serious injury in a huge crash during the second practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix that has left Alpine facing a major car rebuild.
The Alpine driver had missed FP1 as Ryo Hirakawa drove in his place, and had just started his fifth lap of FP2 when he went off at high speed at Turn 1. Doohan appeared to still have the DRS open as he turned in at full throttle at the first corner, and with the lack of downforce, the car instantly swapped ends before smashing into the tire barrier.
Doohan went off at what was estimated to be over 180 miles per hour, with the car sustaining enormous damage and the Australian taking his time to emerge from the wreckage despite telling the team over the radio that he was okay. After being checked at the medical center, he was then released back the Alpine hospitality.
“Following precautionary medical checks, we can confirm that Jack is okay,” Alpine posted on Friday evening. “Now we're working hard to get the car ready for tomorrow.”
The team initially refused to comment further on the incident, and Doohan also did not speak publicly after the crash. Team principal Oliver Oakes later confirmed the cause had been driver error.
“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in Free Practice 2 and glad to see he is okay after his precautionary checks,” Oakes said. “It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1. It is something to learn from, and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow. His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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