JUNE 22, 1998

Frentzen and Schumacher crash

BOTH Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen had big accidents on Friday at Magny-Cours - but contrary to early reports they did not hit one another.

BOTH Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen had big accidents on Friday at Magny-Cours - but contrary to early reports they did not hit one another. Initially there were suggestions that Frentzen had run into Schumacher at high speed, destroying both cars. These seem to have been wide of the mark. Schumacher's accident occurred in the high-speed Estoril corner at around 11 o'clock in the morning. The car was badly damaged and as the team could not repair it, Schumacher left the circuit at midday and went home.

Frentzen's crash came in the early afternoon at the hairpin in the Magny-Cours infield, where cars arrive at around 150mph. The Williams left the track and hit the tire barriers heavily. Frentzen was knocked unconscious in the accident and was lifted from the car by safety teams. After a check-up at the circuit medical center was helicoptered to the hospital in Nevers for tests but he was released at the end of the afternoon.