Doctors have decided that Takuma Sato is fit enough to race in this weekend's Historic Monaco Grand Prix, just one week after his horrific accident in Austria. 

After a final check over in the Graz hospital on Monday morning, the Jordan man was declared fit enough to travel home to Marlow. The following day, the Vielife people picked him up, ferried him down to London, where the Japanese driver met with various specialists. Their advice was simple: plenty of rest, not too much exercise and regular application of ice-packs to the bruising on his right leg. Taku was amazed at how many "get well" messages he received. Of course there was one from team-mate Giancarlo, while Nick Heidfeld, whose Sauber collided with Sato's Jordan, telephoned for a progress report and there are no hard feelings between the two men. 

On Friday, Taku heads off to Monaco a week before most of his fellow drivers to drive a Lotus 49B in the Historic Grand Prix. This is no publicity stunt, but a serious attempt to give the F1 rookie a chance to learn where the corners go on this unique street track. 

The car itself is certainly something special. Owned by Classic Team Lotus, the 49B is the actual chassis which Graham Hill used to win the 1968 and '69 versions of the famous race. It was also the car in which Emerson Fittipaldi made his F1 debut. 

Taku was really impressed by the car, when he went for a seat fitting and quick spin at the Lotus road car test track at Hethel in Norfolk. Hearing the noise, workers in the car plant all piled out of the factory to see what was going on. While no substitute for driving his actual DHL Jordan Honda on the streets of the Principality, Sato should at least get a feel for the place, courtesy of two 20 minute practice sessions on Saturday and the race itself which lasts around 25 minutes.