Kazuki Nakajima Walks Away From Big Accident

Testing got underway again today at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya, but the session was stopped just short of 11.30am local time when Kazuki Nakajima speared off the track and into the barrier. The incident happened at the circuits first corner, and according to reports it seems as though his Williams FW30 just went straight on, over the asphalt run-off area and into the barrier on the outside of the corner. Kazuki was able to get himself out of the damaged car unaided and appears to be unhurt. The accident happened at the tracks fastest point; his Williams would have been travelling at about 180-190mph as he approached the braking zone, although the actual impact speed is not known at the moment.

It took marshals 20 minutes to clear the wreckage and repair the barrier, after which testing resumed for the other teams. Nakajima stated to the media that the car suffered a technical problem when he got back to the pits, and Williams have since said that the issue surrounds the front wing mounts.

Kazuki had been developing the new 2008 Williams, and the team decided to not run team mate Nico Rosberg until they had ascertained exactly what happened and were sure the German wouldn’t have a similar problem with his car. Williams are repairing the chassis which suffered some serious damage to the front and they will be back in action for tomorrow.