George: I'm not sure how fast it was.

John George has spoken for the first time about the high-speed accident he suffered during the final round of the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Brands Hatch.

The TH Motorsport with JAG driver destroyed his Honda Integra in the accident, which occurred following contact with the SEAT of Darren Turner on the Cooper Straight.

Although forced to spend the night in hospital following the accident, where his car barrel-rolled after hitting the barriers, George escaped without any major injuries.

"I moved to the left to cover my line as I approached the corner, before moving to the right to open it out," he said. "As I moved out, Darren had a little overlap on me; he braked and turned to the right at which point the very rear of my car had the tiniest contact with the very front of his. The result was my car was pitched to the right, into the barrier.

"Essentially, I was moving to the right for an approaching left turn and didn't realise Darren was there. I was in fifth gear at the time, flat-out but didn't notice my speed. I expect I was approaching 100mph when my car hit the barrier.

"Darren phoned me up to see how I was doing, which was very nice. I've also had calls from the circuit's doctors. I feel very well looked-after by the BTCC community!"

While George's car was destroyed in the accident, the safety cell around the driver did its job and TH Motorsport team boss Trevor Humphrey admitted it was a relief to see his driver walk away.

"In race three all hell broke loose," he said. "Our main concern was John's safety and wellbeing, but I can't express how well the team did their jobs. If the car is safe enough to go through that kind of crash and for the driver to walk away then you've got a very good racing team indeed. I was speaking to John this morning and his sense of humour is certainly back, which is a good sign!

"The medical staff in the BTCC were spot-on, as were the other teams on the grid. The BTCC is a really close-knit community, we've been getting emails and telephone calls all day from people wanting to make sure John is okay. Ultimately, we got our driver out safely and I'm really grateful to everyone who helped us do that. The team were amazing all weekend, they were highly professional and I was proud to be their boss."