McNish shaken but not stirred

Because of the severity of the impact, however, McNish has been ordered by doctors to take no further part in the race, and although disappointed was clearly shaken by the crash.

"Coming into Porsche Curves, just as I started to brake, I saw like a puff of smoke," explained McNish. "I initially thought it was a tyre exploding on a GT3 car, but as I braked I lost grip. I turned into the corner sliding and knew then it was oil. I knew at that point I was going off the circuit, so what I did was try to make sure I would go into the tyre wall at the best angle possible.

"But it was quite a big impact because its fifth gear with very little braking deceleration. So I went in at quite some speed. In fairness I saw a puff of something a second or two before the impact, so I'd have been surprised if the marshals had been able to react in time."

Initial reports suggested that McNish had been knocked out in the accident but the Scot denied this. "I wasn't unconscious but certainly on the impact I was dazed," he said. "By the time I was back in the pits I was in focus. But when you have a big impact you have to take things calmly. When a doctor tells you to sit down you have to take their advice."

McNish did manage to drive the car back to the pits despite being dazed. But the situation was made doubly difficult by the amount of damage to the Veloqx R8. When he arrived in his pit box, Allan jumped off the front of the car and ran to the back of the garage, where he virtually collapsed into the arms of the team's doctor.

"I got out of the car quickly because, when its got two or three wheels on it, you want the mechanics to work on it," said McNish. "Also, the doctor was at the back of the pits, and he sat me down and checked me over. At that point he wanted me to go to the medical centre.

"I'm a little bit achy but it's nothing I wouldn't have expected. Compared to Suzuka 2002 (when McNish crashed his Toyota F1 car at 130R) it was a piece of cake!

"Even so, for my safety and other peoples' safety they advised I shouldn't continue. That's frustrating when the car's out there again, but throughout my career I've taken the approach that they are the experts on health and we're the experts on driving. I don't want to put myself or anyone else in a compromised position."

At the time of the accident, McNish was running in second some 20s back from his team-mate Jamie Davies. "The car was getting better as the race went on," he said. "It was improving and I'm sure it would have been better still as the race wore on. But that's motor racing. It's not something you want, but these things do happen."