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Nakajima should not rush return - Davidson
Anthony Davidson says Kazuki Nakajima should not rush his return to action after his back-breaking accident during the WEC round at Spa last week.
Sam Smith
Edited: May 4, 2015, 11:27 AM
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Davidson suffered a serious back injury at the 2012 Le Mans 24 hours when he collided with a Ferrari 458 Italia at the end of the Mulsanne Straight. The British racer was side-lined for seven months after the accident.
Now, Davidson believes that Nakajima has the right personality and determination to come back from the accident stronger.
"Kazuki appears to be very strong mentally after the crash and I s probably in better shape, in that respect, than I was," Davidson told motorsport.com.
"For me it took a while to drive again.
"I think Kazuki's injury is not as severe as mine but at this early stage there is no point speculating on when he might be able to get back in the cockpit.
"You really don't want to rush returning from that kind of injury," continued Davidson.
"You need to take care and rest as much as you can. Kaz told me at the hospital that it was the first time he had ever injured himself in a racing car and mentally that is hard to overcome sometimes.
"He is fine and he will be strong, probably stronger mentally than I was after my shunt.
"Everyone is different of course; some people get scared from it, some people even retire, some people laugh about it and get straight back in with no problems. I probably analyse things like that a bit too much but ultimately I think it made me stronger as an all-round endurance racing driver."
Davidson acknowledges that his 2012 shunt changed his application in how and when to take risks in the cockpit.
"My accident very much changed the way I drive," he says.
"There is a self-preservation aspect to it. You are always on guard a little bit more when you have an accident like that afterwards, but as I say drivers react differently."
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