17 Jul 2012

Car not to blame for test driver's accident

6:24 am on 17 July 2012

An internal investigation into the crash early this month that seriously injured the Spanish test driver Maria De Villota at Duxford airfield in England has found the car was not to blame.

De Villota, who is now out of sedation and talking to her family, had just completed a straight-line aerodynamic test and was returning to mechanics when her car accelerated abruptly and slammed into a team truck, her helmet taking the brunt of the impact.

The 32-year-old lost her right eye after undergoing emergency surgery.