Heavy Doohan crash mars second Japanese GP practice

The Australian found the wall heavily inside the opening 10 minutes of the session in dramatic fashion.

It was a massive impact on the outside of Turn 1 when Doohan’s Alpine swapped ends as he turned into the ultra-fast right-hander.

The Australian climbed out of the wrecked car gingery in the first of three red flags for the session.

Shortly after the restart, more than 20 minutes later, Fernando Alonso spun at Degner 1 after the Aston Martin dropped a wheel and spun into the gravel.

No sooner was that recovered did a grass fire break out at Dunlop, prompting a third interruption. A fourth, also for a grass fire, soon followed to draw a close to the hour.

The session was a stop-start affair with constant interruptions impacting every driver as it compromised their run plans.

Carlos Sainz managed just a single lap before returning to the points, reporting bouncing at the rear of the car and asking the heave spring be checked.

Doohan’s session ended abruptly when he crashed heavily at the opening corner.

It was a significant impact, tearing the left-hand wheels from the Alpine as he remained sat in the car as medical crews arrived.

He slowly climbed out before walking to the medical car with the assistance of medical staff.

Replays showed the car swapped ends on him suddenly as he turned into the full-throttle right-hander at the end of the front straight.

The crash drew the red flags, halting running after just seven minutes, resuming with 30 minutes left on the clock.

It prompted a stampede once running did resume, 18 of the remaining 19 drivers headed out, though only for a brief period before a second red flag was shown.

This time the interruption was for Fernando Alonso, who’d spun his Aston Martin on the exit of Degner 1.

The Spaniard had dropped a wheel on entry to the right-hander as he speared off the road.

The session resumed with 19 minutes remaining with another rush of drivers heading back out on track only for the third red to quickly curtail running once more.

This time it was for a grass fire, likely caused by sparks from the cars at Dunlop being blown onto the dry grass.

Dealt with quickly, it left seven minutes on the clock before a final red flag, for another grass fire, with a minute remaining ultimately ended the session.

In what little running that was managed, Oscar Piastri proved fastest, narrowly clear of Lando Norris.

Isack Hadjar was third best and Liam Lawson fifth, though little can be read into the order given the interruptions.

Charles Leclerc banked the most laps, 14 in total compared with the 28 George Russell had managed in Free Practice 1 earlier in the day.

There is a final hour of practice to follow on Saturday ahead of Qualifying, a session that now takes on additional importance.

That’s especially the case for Doohan who is desperately short of time on track after sitting out the opening hour in favour of Ryo Hirakawa.

Final practice begins at 13:30 AEDT tomorrow.