Kopster
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serious crash at BerwickJust been reading this from the Berwick website. Seem that this was a unlucky crash indeed and I hope all involve do get well soon.
Berwick’s Premier League match against the Isle of Wight came to shocking end on Saturday night when with a horrific crash injured two riders and two supporters.
Andersons Quality Butchers Berwick Bandits 17 Isle of Wight Wightlink Islanders 19 (Premier League) (Abandoned after 6 heats – Result does not stand) The prize for the winner was the League’s number one slot and as a result racing was keen and tight, with some great speedway, but come Heat Seven events took a shocking turn. As the tapes went up Scott Smith and Paul Fry locked machines going into the opening bend leaving the pair unable to control the outcome. With both machines at full-bore, they smashed headlong into the first bend fencing, shattering the barrier to smithereens, sending Smith deep into the no-mans- land area, but Fry, and machines kept on going, flying over the remains of the fence and into the supporters’ area. Fry ended up against the stadium’s perimeter wall, some 50 feet from the track, but the flying bikes struck two very unlucky young supporters walking past. Fry ended up with knee ligament damage and a couple of broken toes, and Smith, like Fry was well shaken up and shocked at the severity of the incident. Both stricken supporters required instant medical attention and two NHS service ambulances were called in, arriving within 5 minutes, and as a result the authorities were effectively in charge of the event. Treating the scene as a regular accident scene, the local police called in their incident unit as the supporters were taken into the ambulances where medics tended to their injuries. After consultations between the paramedic teams, the police, the promotion and the referee it was agreed that the only sensible decision would be for the event to be abandoned at this stage, and as the announcement was made it received a round of applause from the crowd who were themselves coming to terms with the scenes and the shock and disbelief caused. The result does not stand and a rescheduled date will be arranged soon. Berwick Promoter Peter Waite said: “Above everything else, we at Berwick Speedway have the two injured fans and their families uppermost in our minds and wish them all the very best for a very swift recovery. “Any referral to results or potential results is immaterial although we will be preparing early for the hard trip to Somerset on Friday.” Berwick had no planned home meeting for next Saturday, the 17th of May, stating several weeks ago that this would be a blank Saturday. Andersons Quality Butchers Berwick Bandits 17 1. Adrian Rymel © R,2* = 2+1 2. Norbert Magosi 2,2,3 = 7 3. Michal Makovsky 1,1* = 2+1 4. Benny Johansson – Rider Replacement 5. Tero Aarnio 1 = 1 6. Scott Smith ® 3,0 = 3 7. Adam McKinna ® 2*,0 = 2+1 Isle of Wight Wightlink Islanders 19 1. Krzysztof Stojanowski – Rider Replacement 2. Cory Gathercole 3,3 = 6 3. Glen Phillips 3,0 = 3 4. Paul Fry 2* = 2+1 5. Jason Bunyan © 1,3,1 = 5 6. Andrew Bargh ® 0,0 = 0 7. James Holder ® 1,2* = 3+1
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Aussie2
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I can remember an incident at Arlington when a spectator was injured in a similar type incident. This is why there is a roped off area where no spectators can stand. Also there is a wire mesh fence on the first/second bend, as this is where the incident occurred. Perhaps safety should be looked at again at some tracks. I understood that the tractors were removed on Health & Safety grounds. I would imagine that Health & Safety will be called in, as there will have to be an inquiry into what happened. I do hope that all the people concerned make a full recovery.
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Kevin54
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What a horrible accident, fortunately, if that isn't regarded as inappropriate in this case, it is very rare.
Hopefully all involved are'nt badly hurt, and Berwick will not be penalised by some grossly over zealous pen pusher from the "elf'n'safety" brigade.
I remember when I first started going to Arlington ducking down right by the safety fence when the riders came round, you used to hear the shale clattering against it, sometimes it bumped up and down if someone got really close.
The silliness of youth!!
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Bazra
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If they were going that fast I can't really see an air fence helping.
Best wishes to all involved.
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Aussie2
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| Bazra wrote: | If they were going that fast I can't really see an air fence helping.
Best wishes to all involved. |
An airfence will not help, but maybe they should take a leaf out of Eastbourne where they have roped off sections so that the spectators are out of harms way. They did this after an incident where I believe a spectator was hurt. We know it is a dangerous sport, and that fortunately incidents like this are rare. I reciprocate what Bazra said re the injured spectators and riders.
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sussexbulldog
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Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Agree entirely with Aussie2 regarding safety though. I expect H & S will insist on this any way.
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