Herbert escapes 200mph shunt

final practice for the Germany Grand Prix as his Formula One jinx
returned with a
vengeance.

The Stewart driver had suffered problems with his rear wing on Friday, and in morning practice it broke as he approached the first chicane. Herbert's wing had been replaced already after fracturing twice yesterday. The accident happened at the scene of Jim Clark's fatal accident here in April 1968.

'I was in top gear on the limiter when it happened,' he said.

'I was worried it would get picked up by something and at
that speed it
would be cart-wheeling along in a second.

'That was exactly the spot where Jimmy's accident happened.

'I was just bracing myself and waiting for the impact.'

Although he hit the barriers hard, Herbert's only injury is a sprained thumb.

His season with Stewart has been a disaster so far. While his team mate Rubens Barrichello has taken a pole and two podium finishes, Herbert has only once troubled the scorers.

He finished 5th in Canada but has otherwise struggled to reach the chequered flag. His problems have included an engine fire before the start in Australia, hydraulic problems, a frightening suspension failure at Monaco and an incident with Mika Salo in Austria.

In a bid to beat the hoodoo he even carried a clove of lucky
garlic into
the Zeltweg race, only for Salo to shunt
him from
behind at the second corner and leave him without his rear wing and four laps down after repairs.

'I've had a whole string of problems but is the worst,' Herbert
said.

'I just don't know what is going on. My luck has just been
awful this year. I thought it had changed after things turned around at the
last race. Then I get a day like today.

'I haven't done a single fast lap before qualifying. First the car pulled to a
halt with
electrical problems and then this happens.'

He qualified back in 17th position, eleven places behind his team mate.