Boutsen to retire from racing

The 41-year old Formula One and sportscar veteran crashed heavily during the night at Le Mans, when his Toyota GT-One was hit from behind by a slower car and slammed into the barriers.

He has now been moved to hospital in Paris, having been diagnosed as suffering from a fractured vertebrae in the lower part of his back.

Boutsen paid tribute to the car's designer, and the circuit staff who helped him at the scene.

He said: 'I feel a little sore, but generally okay. I'm thankful to the team and designer Andre de Cortanze that the car was built so strongly and that it did its job of protecting me.

'I'm also very grateful to all the circuit personnel and the doctors who attended to me at the accident scene. The specialists at the hospital said it was only the swift care I received at the time that ensured my injuries were not aggravated.'

'It was an enormous accident, I was at high speed when I was hit from the rear corner and sent into the barriers.'

The Belgian revealed that he had been considering retirement even before the incident.

'I have been considering everything for some time and have now decided that this was my last race,' he announced. 'I have now retired from motorsport and will focus on my family and aviation business.'

Boutsen rose to prominence when he joined the Arrows F1 team in 1983. He soon established himself as a star of the future and moved via Benetton to Williams. His spell with the team was disappointing, and he was dropped at the end of 1990. After three depressing seasons with Ligier and Jordan, he retired from F1 after his home race in 1993.

He then moved to German Super Touring Cars, but seemed uninterested in saloon racing and returned to sportscars in 1996. In the mid-1980's, Boutsen had been a star of the Group C World Endurance Championship in-between his F1 commitments, so this was seen as a return to his roots.

However, after a lack lustre 1997 with the works Porsche GT team, Boutsen's only outings in recent years have been with the Toyota Le Mans programme. He was one of the favourites for victory in this year's race, but it was not to be.