MARCH 25, 2001

Salo goes into wall in first Toyota test

MIKA SALO had a high-speed accident during his first tests with the new Toyota F1b prototype chassis when the car suffered a rear end failure, when part of the composite gearbox casing broke. The Finn was braking at the end of the Mistral Straight, the fastest point on the circuit and went off into the barriers at 140mph. Salo was able to walk away after the crash but after being checked over by the team's doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli he was flown by helicopter to the hospital in Marseilles for a full check up. Salo complained of some back pain but was otherwise unharmed.

Testing will resume next week after the cause of the accident has been fully examined and a solution found.

Composite gearboxes have proved to be very difficult and several F1 teams have had failures resulting from them.