Former rugby union star Ben Tune has been cleared of serious injury and released from hospital today after a frightening crash during a weekend motor race at Barbagallo Raceway.

The ex-Wallaby  spent the night in hospital undergoing tests after rolling his car yesterday during the Mini Challenge - one of the support categories to the V8 Supercar championship.

The 31-year-old complained of back pain immediately after the accident, but scans and tests gave him a clean bill of health and he was allowed to leave hospital today.

"He's pretty sore as you'd expect," Mini Challenge spokesman Theo Psaros said.

"With these sort of things, they don't like to release them until they are satisfied that everything is OK."

Tune lost control of his car during the race, flipping the Mini before the car came to rest on its roof.

It took a rescue team 20 minutes to extract Tune from his car before he was placed in a neck brace and on a spinal board.

He was then taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment, then to a second hospital to spend the night under observation.

Tune is a keen motor racing fan and started driving in the Mini Challenge after his retirement from rugby - yesterday's race just his second in the series.

He quit rugby at the end of last season after a decorated career with both his home state Queensland and Australia.

The outside back played 46 Tests for Australia and scored 24 tries including the match-winning try in the 1999 Rugby World Cup final.

Tune recently drove in the celebrity challenge at the Australian formula one Grand Prix.

That led to an invitation to take part in the Mini Challenge - an eight-race support program to the V8s in which all participants drive identical Minis.

The series mostly features experienced race drivers, including Australia's leading female racing driver Leanne Tander and Seven Network personality Grant Denyer - who has competed successfully in V8 Supercar racing.

AAP