SAO PAULO, Oct 23 (AFP) - World champion Michael Schumacher was involved in a high-speed crash in Saturday's practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The German, who finished practice second quickest behind team-mate Rubens Barrichello, lost control of his Ferrari at turn six and flew into the barriers but his car erupted into flames.
Marshals put out the flames at the rear of the Ferrari before Schumacher returned to survey the damage. The session was then brought to a premature end with less than two minutes remaining.
Barrichello, the home favourite, led the way with a lap time of 1min 10.299sec, with Schumacher 0.123sec adrift.
The Ferrari pair are attempting to land a record-breaking 16th win of the season for the world champions at Interlagos.
McLaren duo Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard ended third and fourth fastest respectively, despite the latter making an unusual error entering the pit-lane when he braked hard and sent his car into a 180-degree spin.
Jenson Button, quickest in the opening practice session for BAR-Honda, was the fifth fastest ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and Williams driver Ralf Schumacher.
BAR's Takuma Sato, Jaguar driver Mark Webber and Sauber's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, completed the top 10.
Minardi driver Gianmaria Bruni had a brief excursion off the track at the opening corner but he was able to continue.
Button had set the pace in the opening session, which was halted for 25 minutes with two dogs running loose around the Interlagos circuit, from Sato.
The red flag was waved after only five minutes when a Collie-type dog ran on to the track. A second hound, a mongrel type, was also spotted within the circuit as marshals attempted to catch the stray animals to allow practice to resume.
Jacques Villeneuve ended 12th in the second session having failed to set a time in the opening practice.
10/23/2004 13:19 GMT - AFP