Zonta expected back for Canada

The Brazilian novice will miss his third event in a row this weekend after suffering a cut tendon in his left foot at the Brazilian GP last month.

Pollock has moved to quell speculation that BAR is trying to eke out Zonta's absence for as long as possible.

He insisted that retaining replacement Mika Salo for the Spanish GP was due to medical reasons.

'He could not hop on his foot and if he had had an accident and injured his other foot he would not be able to get out of the car,' said Pollock.

'He will be back and I would be very surprised if he did not return for Montreal.'

Some still feel, though, that Zonta may not make it back for Canada because it is a track that requires a lot of heavy braking.

There has been speculation that BAR wants to keep Salo in the car because of the publicity he has created.

It was forced into taking the highly-rated Zonta because the South American arm of title sponsor BAT is footing a large proportion of the team's budget.