CARDIFF, 5 November 2003 — British rally driver Richard Burns was released from hospital here yesterday following a collapse which ruled out of this week’s final event in the World Rally Championship series.
The 32-year-old fainted at the wheel of his Porsche while driving to Cardiff Sunday for this weekend’s season-ending Rally of Great Britain but was saved from a potential crash by fellow rally driver Markko Martin.
Martin grabbed the wheel and guided the car to safety before Burns was taken to hospital in Newport, and later transferred to a private hospital in Cardiff where he underwent a brain scan and other tests.
Peugeot bosses are awaiting the results but are confident the problem is nothing serious. “We are sure there is nothing really important wrong with him, but according to what the doctors told us it really is impossible for him to enter the rally,” said team chief Corrado Provera. “Of course, people went to see him. He is conscious, he speaks so there is no problem for him to undergo a conversation. But the doctors haven’t told us exactly what is going on.”
