Medical Chief Clears Wilson to Race

Briton Justin Wilson got back on track for Minardi today for the first time since the Formula One rookie was injured by his HANS safety system in Malaysia two weeks ago.

Wilson, 24, was passed fit by Formula One medical chief Sid Watkins and completed 24 laps in a rain-hit test session at Interlagos ahead of Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

"He's cleared him to get on with it," said a Minardi spokesman. "As far as we're concerned he's clear to race."

Wilson was taken to hospital in Malaysia with temporary paralysis after his HANS head and neck safety device slipped and pinched a nerve during the second race of the season at Sepang on March 23. It took the team eight minutes to extract him from the car after he had limped back to the pits.

"It felt like someone was just stabbing me in the shoulders," Wilson recalled at Interlagos. "There's only one time when I felt more pain than that and it was when I was trapped in a car with a broken leg and a broken arm. That was when I started racing cars at Brands Hatch.

"Then the brakes failed and I hit the wall, the car folded up and broke my leg. I was just trapped in the car for two hours."

The lanky Briton is using a new double belt HANS system at Interlagos as well as extra padding around him in the cockpit of the Minardi. The car has also had power steering added.

"There's no permanent damage and I feel a lot better," Wilson said.

Twin Belts

"We've done a couple of things. We've built the sides of my seat up more to support my body a lot better and I've also got the twin belts...and that's much better."

Wilson had still not tried out the new system until Friday, since Minardi have limited resources to test, and he said the problem surfaced in Malaysia because it was the first time he had done a long run in the car.

"It's the kind of thing the bigger teams would have found out in testing two or three months ago, but we don't have that luxury."

Team boss Paul Stoddart hailed Wilson for his 'gladiator effort' in Malaysia but also said the Briton had been brave but stupid to race on at Sepang.

"I can agree with him," said Wilson. "I feel as if maybe I should have stopped a couple of laps earlier but if I had then I would have felt that I didn't give it 100 percent.

"I'd have thought could I have got to the finish or couldn't I? This way I know I couldn't have got any further than I did. I couldn't have done another half lap. So I feel much better in myself for doing it that way."