Robert Kubica, 26, who drives for the Renault team, was competing in a Skoda Fabia on the Ronde di Andora when he suffered a high-speed crash into a church wall and then a barrier shortly after the start. It took rescue crews more than an hour to extract Kubica from the wreckage. Unconfirmed reports from the scene suggest that part of the barrier speared through the car's footwell into the cockpit.

The Pole, who is a national hero in his homeland, suffered multiple fractures to his right leg, arm and hand. He was airlifted from the crash site in the village of Testico to the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure on the Mediterranean coast where he underwent lengthy surgery.

The main area of concern is the driver's right hand, which, although safe from amputation, is severely damaged and it is too early for doctors to give a prognosis on a full recovery. It is the same arm that was badly injured in a road accident in 2003 and left him with titanium bolts to support the shattered bones.

Read more at The Guardian ....