Saturday October 12th, 2002

Scot Allan McNish said he is feeling fine following his dramatic qualifying crash at Suzuka and insisted he has "no questions" over competing at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

Toyota driver McNish, who crashed at the 130R corner 35 minutes into the session and halted the action for more than an hour, was held in the circuit's medical centre as the session continued and finished up 18th on the grid.

But he expects to be pronounced fit by Professor Watkins in a mandatory check-up on Sunday morning and revealed that he even asked the doctor if he could be allowed to leave to try another flying lap in the re-started session.

"I felt fine in the medical centre and wanted to go back out," said McNish, 32. "But I think it was a case of the impact that Prof Watkins did not want me to go back out there in the qualifying session.

"Basically, everything felt good through the 130R corner but the car suddenly snapped into a big oversteer and I reversed heavily into the barrier. My natural instinct after the crash was just to make sure everything was still in working order and thankfully it is.

"I have got to see the medical crew tomorrow morning for a check-up but I am confident for tomorrow. The best thing is to get back in the cockpit as soon as possible."

The crash, which saw McNish's Toyota machine spear backwards through the barriers at an estimated 150mph, has been put down to driver error, and the Scot admitted that it could have been a case of over confidence.

The corner is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous left in the sport, and the Grand Prix rookie, who made his debut this year, told Sky F1 Digital+: "On the first run I was quite conservative. On the second it was feeling better but maybe I was a little bit too comfortable."

Published at 06:57:25 GMT