Wednesday April 19th, 2000

Silverstone officials said on Wednesday they had extended a tyre wall at the corner where Michael Schumacher crashed last year after Brazilian Ricardo Zonta's accident last week.

Silverstone spokesman Peter Morris said the tyre wall at the Stowe corner had been increased by one tyre in height and two in depth ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix.

"After the Zonta crash we immediately held talks with FIA (International Automobile Federation) safety delegates and decided that it was necessary to make changes," said Morris.

"It was deemed that work needed to be done, so we have done it to be ready for this Sunday's race."

British American Racing driver Zonta escaped with only a cut finger after his car took off, cleared the spectator fencing in testing last Thursday and smashed across a concrete retaining wall and into an enclosure.

The wall at Stowe had already been improved by a third layer before Zonta's crash and bound together with conveyor belting.

Schumacher had said afterwards that he was seeking urgent safety improvements at the circuit.