Formula One rookie Antonio Pizzonia wrote off a £45,000 Jaguar road car in a spectacular 155mph crash at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona today. The Brazilian and three passengers, none of whom was seriously hurt, somersaulted into a tyre barrier after losing control of the S-Type R sports saloon at the first corner of the Spanish track. Pizzonia had been carrying out promotional work for the Jaguar Racing team after official F1 testing at the circuit had ended for the day.
The 23-year-old, who will make his debut for the English-based outfit at the season-opening race in Australia next March, admitted afterwards: "I was in the car, I was driving but I am okay." Pizzonia, who is regarded as one of the sport's brightest prospects but still a raw talent, was taken to the track's medical centre for a check up. The car was declared a write-off after it was towed back to the garage on a flat-bed truck with the roof caved in and the rear window smashed.
Jaguar spokesman Nav Sidhu, who was at the first corner, confirmed: "Antonio was driving a Jaguar S-Type R for a promotional activity we are undertaking for a magazine. Having seen the footage, it looks like he went into the first corner too fast and lost control of the car but thankfully everybody is okay. Antonio will hopefully carry on tomorrow with some testing duties. They are all obviously a bit shocked as one would expect. There is probably a bit of bruising which will manifest itself overnight given the impact as they went off at around 155mph and somersaulted into a tyre wall. The car is a write-off but we make lots of those so I am sure we are not going to miss it."
Pizzonia has been given the nickname 'Jungle Boy' - because he comes from the Amazon forest region of Brazil - since coming to Britain to pursue his racing career. The former test driver with F1 rivals Williams was conducting his first test since joining the team a few weeks ago along with Australia's Mark Webber who was also at the track.
Filed by Shane Murray
