Int: Renna escapes in 160mph smash

The PacWest Lights driver walked away from the crash, which badly damaged the left-hand side of his car.

'The car was fantastic, really well-balanced straight off the truck,' said Renna.

'Maybe I should have taken it a bit slower because it was my first time here, but we were out there chasing it.

'The data did not show any change in my driving style on that lap, but the rear broke away on me.

'It is obviously disappointing to damage a car and for our testing to be limited by the accident, but despite all that the team is very positive.'

Team manager, Paul Harcus, was delighted with the time Renna spent on the track and was relieved his new young talent escaped Thursday's incident unhurt.

'We only did sixty or so laps, but the thing was impressive,' said Harcus.

'Tony was doing some very quick times, but was hitting the rev-limiter.

'Although we only did sixty laps we certainly know we are heading in the right direction and we have plenty of data from today and our couple of days earlier this week at Firebird.

'While we don't want them happening every day, we all realise accidents are part of this deal and we are just happy Tony walked away from this one.'

The team will now have a break before testing again in mid-February at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix.