Pizzonia Writes Off New Jaguar Saloon

Brazilian Formula One driver Antonio Pizzonia destroyed a $70,000 Jaguar saloon car in a spectacular crash today as he gave three passengers a ride at the Barcelona test track.

"I was in the car, I was driving it but I'm okay," said the 23-year-old afterwards.

Jaguar spokesman Nav Sidhu said Pizzonia, who makes his Grand Prix debut in Australia in March, rolled the luxury car after accelerating flat out into the first corner of the Circuit de Catalunya. None of the passengers suffered serious injury but the car, brought back on a flatbed truck with the roof caved in and rear windows smashed, was declared a write off.

"They went off at around 155 mph and somersaulted into a tyre wall, so it was certainly not a small shunt. But they are all fine," said Sidhu. "Antonio was driving an S-type R for a promotional activity that we are undertaking for a magazine. From having seen the footage, it looks like he went into the first corner too fast and lost control of the car."

After the accident, the driver had to visit the medical centre.

"They are all a bit shocked as one would expect. There is probably a bit of bruising which will manifest itself overnight," added the spokesman.

Pizzonia joined Jaguar last month after previously being the Williams test driver. He has a reputation for being very quick on the track, and was fastest in testing at Barcelona on Wednesday, but with a few rough edges.

Popularly nicknamed 'Jungle Boy' in Britain because he comes from the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus, Pizzonia is seen as one of Formula One's bright new prospects.

The accident capped what Sidhu admitted had been a 'Week from Hell' for the Ford-owned team, with a swathe of redundancies announced last week followed by the abrupt dismissal of Jaguar principal Niki Lauda on Tuesday.

The team's testing has also been difficult, with Australian Mark Webber having limited track time on Tuesday and Wednesday due to problems with the new Cosworth engine.