Kovalainen unconcious in Audi R8 LMS crash at Race of Champions [video]

Heikki Kovalainen was on Sunday knocked unconscious in a crash at the Race of Champions event in Germany.

"Hardcore shunt with throttle jammed and rear suspension damaged, got knocked out, now some medical checkups," the Finnish driver wrote on Twitter after the crash in an Audi R8 in Dusseldorf.

Kovalainen's British girlfriend Catherine Hyde was seated alongside the Lotus driver, who had already taken the chequered flag to win the race, but she emerged unscathed.

"Catherine is sore and her back is painful, got to look after her now," 29-year-old Kovalainen, who went to a local hospital for checks, added.

He also said on Twitter that, after arriving home to Switzerland, he will have further medical checks on Monday.

"Head's a bit sore, (I) was unconscious for 30 seconds," revealed Kovalainen, a former Race of Champions winner.

Source: GMM

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 jf90 jf90
saw the crash. didnt look that bad., but that just shows how sanitised we are when it comes to real speed. glad he's ok. his missus looked chirpy considering.
November 29, 2010 6:12 am
 KeyboardWarrior KeyboardWarrior
It's not aways about the driver. I have heard that the R8 has soem serious handling issues at high speeds as teh car gets very nervous, even with the production car. This is evidence of this problem.
November 30, 2010 1:43 am
 3MOCIONA 3MOCIONA
No offence Kovi, but you looked like you were unconcious before you even got to the corner. Glad your ok though. This proves that motorsport is safer than people realise.
November 29, 2010 6:28 am
 Kepex Kepex
That was due to the throttle jamming to fully open. It messes up everything quite badly when you start braking to a corner without knowing that the car is still trying to accelerate.
November 29, 2010 6:50 am
 Kepex Kepex
If you look at the video closely, you can see that the right rear wheel is not pointing straight before the crash.
November 29, 2010 8:45 am
 jf90 jf90
Also Loeb's reaction time in bringing his to a stop was exceptional
November 29, 2010 6:53 am
 Kramer_93 Kramer_93
Thats because the race was already over, watch it again and you can see that he had already won the race.
November 29, 2010 7:36 am
 catchmyshadow catchmyshadow
exactly, brilliant stop from loeb.
November 29, 2010 10:09 am
 Mikeado Mikeado
Yes, he was cooling down, but for all he knew, Heikki was going to T-bone him. He had to stab the brakes, which he did the instant that the wall was hit.
November 29, 2010 2:03 pm
 bmw2002m bmw2002m
Cars like this and especially F1 cars are built like brick s***houses, people who aren't in the know are oblivious to how safe they are - glad he is ok.
November 29, 2010 6:57 am
 me109a me109a
What - did Toyota make the throttle for that car?
November 29, 2010 6:57 am
 Car_fan Car_fan
Check out the Carbon Ceramic brakes lighting up big time on the front right wheel at 0:58-1:00. Get well soon!
November 29, 2010 7:01 am
 mikemikemikemike mikemikemikemike
Thats tjhe other cars headlight reflection.
April 26, 2011 3:24 am
 chris25 chris25
Wow, Sebastien loeb was really quick in stopping, but both the cars slide over there. These cars show how well they are built when freak accidents happen, glad he is ok.
November 29, 2010 7:16 am
 dmanero dmanero
too bad for the r8, but i dont think it had anything to do with supension damage, if you watch the video you see the rear tap the wall as he exited the turn, so my guess is that the rear tire deflated and with kova flooring in throttle, spun himself out, see that happen many times.
November 29, 2010 7:21 am
 PaulMIG PaulMIG
Suspension damage due to touching the wall is still suspension damage. You can see the right rear wheel broken, tilted.
November 29, 2010 8:12 am
 bmw2002m bmw2002m
Looking at the picture, it looks like he is trying to take a rather ambitious short cut!
November 29, 2010 8:11 am
 fred123456 fred123456
Yea Loeb reaction was awesome... But those barriers fell apart so easily.... Glad to see that he is ok....
November 29, 2010 9:58 am
 catchmyshadow catchmyshadow
what about Mouton crashing the S1 at the same event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09oXzMovXKY&feature=player_embedded much more painful to watch imho
November 29, 2010 10:10 am
 mikemikemikemike mikemikemikemike
That could not be a more pussy crash. Was that wall made of styrofoam?
November 29, 2010 1:17 pm
 Mikeado Mikeado
Large pieces of heavy-looking plastic connected together that weren't designed to bend upwards.
November 29, 2010 2:05 pm
 inlinesix inlinesix
Why the fcuk was Heikki's girlfriend in the car?
November 29, 2010 7:38 pm
 DdW DdW
I hoped Heikki is ok.
November 30, 2010 12:07 am