Jon was in good spirits this morning after a night of rest, although he was sad at not being able to take part in the second round of the Formula 3 Euro Series.

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(Courtesy of Motors TV)

“I'm a bit stiff and my leg is sore,” he said, “so it would have been too much to have raced here, as you need to use so much pressure when applying the brakes.  I can't put enough pressure on my left leg so I wouldn't be able to brake properly.  There was nothing to be gained by the team repairing the car overnight, just so I could run around at the back.  It would not be fair on my guys spending all night carrying out repairs, so it was more sensible to get some rest. 

“I have to say though that everyone here has been so kind.  The team have been absolutely first class, and so many people have been asking about me, I could not possibly thank them all personally, but I do appreciate their thoughts.”

As many viewers will have seen on the excellent Motors TV coverage this morning (Sunday), Jon fighting oversteer after taking fifth place from the start, which left him slipping back into the grasps of Dani Clos and Jean-Karl Vernay.  Jon then got a better exit from the corner before the shunt, which ended in disaster when Vernay clung to the inside left-hand side of the track in the Mercedes Arena and appeared to brake sooner than expected for the left-hander, as Jon tried to re-pass his opponent on the left side. 

When the ART Dallara-Mercedes front tyre struck the rear left tyre of Vernay’s car, Jon was launched into an end-over-end roll, which ended after the car skipped across the gravel trap and into the tyre wall in front of the large grandstand.  Fortunately Jon missed the rear of Clos' car as he had slid, upside down into the gravel, removing only Clos’ rear wing in the process.

The ADAC safety crew were quickly on the scene, and as the Safety Car led the field round for the next eight laps or so, it allowed them to remove Jon from the car where, still strapped to his seat, from where he was taken straight to hospital.  Thankfully he was cleared with only minor injuries to his hands and knees.

"I wasn't even trying to pass him there," Jon said afterwards.  "I was close enough that if he moved back to the right to take the normal line I would go for the inside, or if he didn't I'd just follow him round the corner.  But before we got there he braked a lot earlier than I was expecting and there was no time for me to react.  I didn't think I was too badly hurt, and the extrication and stretcher were just precautions that the circuit takes.  My back and neck felt alright, (but) I was more worried about my knees because they took a bang when I landed.

"It's a shame to end my first weekend in F3 like this because it was going well and I definitely had the pace to be up there, but these things happen in racing and you just have to get on with it.  I'll just watch the races tomorrow and see what I can learn."

Jon was reminded that every great driver has a shunt at some time and they generally come back all the stronger for the experience.  “That is true,” he said with some amusement.  “Roll on the next race in Mugello
then..!”