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Under-pressure Doohan vows to learn from Japanese GP smash / Photo: Saeed KHAN - AFP
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Under-pressure Doohan vows to learn from Japanese GP smash
Under-pressure Alpine rookie Jack Doohan vowed to learn from his mistake after a heavy crash in practice at the Japanese Grand Prix that left him lucky to walk away unharmed.
The 22-year-old Australian spun off the Suzuka track in Friday's second practice session and slammed into a barrier at high speed.
He climbed gingerly out of the cockpit unassisted and was given the all clear after precautionary medical checks.
Alpine said Saturday morning that Doohan's badly damaged car had been repaired and was ready for practice later that day.
But the team also blamed Doohan for the smash, saying he made a "misjudgement" in not closing his car's DRS heading into the turn.
Doohan, who has Alpine's reserve driver Franco Colapinto waiting in the wings, promised to come back stronger.
"First of all, I am OK after the incident," said Doohan, the son of five-time motorbike world champion Mick Doohan.
"It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise and I will learn from it."
Alpine recruited Doohan in August and he made his debut at the final grand prix of the year in Abu Dhabi.
But his signing to partner Pierre Gasly came before Colapinto was promoted to a seat with Williams and showed promise in his nine races.
Those performances caught the eye of several teams with Alpine signing the Argentine as one of four reserve drivers for 2025.
Recent speculation has suggested that Doohan has limited time to prove his worth.
His case has not been helped by Alpine principal Oliver Oakes's assessment of Friday's incident.
"It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1," said Oakes.
"It is something to learn from and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow."
Alpine said their engineers had worked through the night to get Doohan's car ready for Saturday's third practice and qualifying.
They said all parts had been replaced bar the power unit.
(W.Williams--TAG)
