By Alan Baldwin
London. Polish Formula One driver Robert Kubica was flown to a hospital on Sunday after a high-speed crash while competing in a rally in Italy, his Renault team said in a statement.
A team spokeswoman said Kubica, Renault’s leading driver and a race winner in Canada in 2008 with his former BMW-Sauber team, was conscious but gave no further details.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported, however, that the 26-year-old had suffered serious injuries with little more than a month to go before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“Lotus Renault GP driver Robert Kubica suffered an accident at high speed this morning while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally,” the Renault statement said. “The driver was airlifted to Pietra Ligure Hospital, where he is currently undergoing medical checks. His co-driver is fine.”
Renault has Brazilian Bruno Senna and France’s Romain Grosjean as their official third drivers. Senna competed last season for the HRT team while Grosjean started seven races for Renault in 2009.
Neither has ever scored a point in Formula One. Kubica’s race teammate is Russian Vitaly Petrov, who made his debut last season.
ANSA said Kubica was heading to the start of the Ronde di Andora event near Genoa in a Skoda Fabia when the car went off the road and hit a church wall.
The co-driver, Jacub Gerber, got out unhurt while Kubica had to be extracted by firemen.
Kubica, a rally fan who has entered several events in the past, tested the new Lotus-backed Renault last week ahead of the Formula One season, which starts in Bahrain on March 13.
He closed Formula One’s first test session of the season with the fastest time over three days in Valencia, Spain.
The Pole walked away virtually unscathed from a massive crash in Canada in 2007 but still bears the scars of a serious road accident as a passenger in 2003 that left him with titanium bolts in his arm.
Reuters
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
London. Polish Formula One driver Robert Kubica was flown to a hospital on Sunday after a high-speed crash while competing in a rally in Italy, his Renault team said in a statement.
A team spokeswoman said Kubica, Renault’s leading driver and a race winner in Canada in 2008 with his former BMW-Sauber team, was conscious but gave no further details.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported, however, that the 26-year-old had suffered serious injuries with little more than a month to go before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“Lotus Renault GP driver Robert Kubica suffered an accident at high speed this morning while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally,” the Renault statement said. “The driver was airlifted to Pietra Ligure Hospital, where he is currently undergoing medical checks. His co-driver is fine.”
Renault has Brazilian Bruno Senna and France’s Romain Grosjean as their official third drivers. Senna competed last season for the HRT team while Grosjean started seven races for Renault in 2009.
Neither has ever scored a point in Formula One. Kubica’s race teammate is Russian Vitaly Petrov, who made his debut last season.
ANSA said Kubica was heading to the start of the Ronde di Andora event near Genoa in a Skoda Fabia when the car went off the road and hit a church wall.
The co-driver, Jacub Gerber, got out unhurt while Kubica had to be extracted by firemen.
Kubica, a rally fan who has entered several events in the past, tested the new Lotus-backed Renault last week ahead of the Formula One season, which starts in Bahrain on March 13.
He closed Formula One’s first test session of the season with the fastest time over three days in Valencia, Spain.
The Pole walked away virtually unscathed from a massive crash in Canada in 2007 but still bears the scars of a serious road accident as a passenger in 2003 that left him with titanium bolts in his arm.
Reuters
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com