Closing the knowledge gap on concussion

By:

James Newbold

Feb 25, 2020, 2:33 PM

Concussion remains an area of sporting injury in which medical research and practice are still playing catch-up, but work is ongoing to change that

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When Fernando Alonso crashed his McLaren MP4-30 into the Barcelona circuit's Turn 3 wall during pre-season testing in 2015, it sent certain media circles into a frenzy of speculation over the possible cause.

McLaren stringently denied that the impact - which registered 30G at its peak - was the result of a car failure as its new star signing Alonso, lured from Ferrari by the prospect of McLaren-Honda domination, was transported to hospital with concussion-like symptoms after briefly losing consciousness.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.