Checa, Cardoso unhurt in massive start-line shunt.

Both Carlos Checa and Jose Luis Cardoso escaped serious injury in a nasty start-line shunt at Valencia yesterday. The accident occurent when the Marlboro Yamaha Team man, who was starting from the second row, stalled his M1 as the pack roared away from the grid.

Then, as he rolled forward at walking pace, Cardoso, who had started from the back of the grid, rammed him at high speed. Amazingly, neither rider was hurt in the horrendous looking collision.

"That was a very big accident but fortunately nothing is broken - although I have pain everywhere!" said Cardoso with a shake of his head. "I did not see Carlos until the last second. After the red light you try to find a clear place and you never think that there will be someone stopped in front of you. I could not do anything."

"I started as normal, but the revs dropped and I wasn't expecting that," added a bitterly disappointed Checa, who is due to test at Valencia on Tuesday. "I went forward a few metres and just stopped. It's a shame to finish the season this way, especially because I thought we had a good chance to do well here."

"Poor Carlos, it looked like the engine stalled but we've checked the data and haven't found anything wrong or strange," said M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda. "We will make further checks [on Monday], but right now we're just happy he is okay after the collision."