Jack Doohan crashes hard at Suzuka because the FP2 session is flanted red

The Alpine driver Jack Doohan crashed during the second training session during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

The Australian driver fell against the wall in curve 1 in his fourth round of the session with an influence of around 160 miles per hour. At this stage it is not clear what caused the crash because it did not look like driver errors. However, there is a strong tailwind in this corner, and the general consensus points towards the vehicle that lies at the entrance to the corner.

Doohan quickly confirmed that he was fine and he managed to get out of the car without support.

This could not be a worse time for Doohan when he got out of the first training session so that Toyota WEC driver Ryo Hirakawa as part of the rookie test commitments for each team takes over the bike. Doohan will only have the third and last practice session tomorrow to get a grip on the car and a route where he has no experience in advance.

Jack Doohan, Alpine

Photo by: Mohd Rasfan – AFP – Getty Images

The former F1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson commented during the show:

“I think the car may have just switched off. I know that these cars can be exposed to this corner with the approach with a driver’s error. If it is not open, the car is so strong.

“Sainz used to complain that the back of his car in the spoon curve did not feel properly and Turn 1 is much faster than spoons. It looked like he was just a passenger there.”

He added: “He steps very well. He says that he is doing well, but that opened him, I think.”