Legge: that was my best race!

The Briton stepped away from a huge accident at the Turn 11 kink, which can be taken in seventh gear at 165mph, after an element of her rear wing flew off.

Her PKV Racing Lola was launched into a series of somersaults along the catch fencing, breaking into pieces as it went, when finally the tub landed upside down.

"It's so bad that the accident happened while I was in my best race of the year," she told autosport.com.

"We were definitely going to finish sixth, despite having lost a load of time earlier in the race being hit by people and then getting caught behind slower cars.

"I knew something was wrong in a split second after the rear wing broke, because I lost about a thousand pounds of downforce, so suddenly I was speeding up as I turned into the kink, and the rear end just came round and I was a passenger.

"I must have stayed conscious through most of it, because as I was going along the fence I remember thinking 'this isn't good'.

"My visor flipped open a bit, so there was mud and stuff coming through, but I could see that the engine had broken away.

"That was a real relief, because when you're trapped upside down, the last thing you want is fire. That would be scary.

"But, you know, the tub was fine and it just goes to show how strong these Lolas are. The only thing that hurts is my knee.

"But, like I say, I'm really bummed because we had been going so well. But when I saw the replay in the medical centre, I could see I was pretty lucky.

"I felt sorry for my dad, because at least I knew what was happening and how I was, because I could feel all my fingers and legs and toes while I was upside down. But until he saw me in the medical centre he could only worry."

Legge said that she expects to be fine for Champ Car's next race, the penultimate round at Surfers Paradise in Australia.

"Oh yeah, that's not a problem. And that's because Champ Cars are so strong, and the safety team are awesome. Everyone's been wonderful to me."