Rider in serious condition after Weston Beach crash!

One rider is still in hospital in a serious condition after yesterdays huge start straight crash at the 27th annual Weston Beach Race.

Nineteen riders needed hospital treatment – one is in intensive care and many others have life-threatening injuries following the dramatic collision during the opening seconds of the main race yesterday afternoon.

Onlookers described the scene on the beach in Weston-super-Mare as “carnage” as 12 ambulances raced to attend to the injured riders. Others said the weather at the start of the race had been appalling.

Riders told how they saw other competitors sprawled on the sand as they approached the collision through the sand haze, with at least one person left unconscious following the collision.

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teve Goddard, 45, of Banbury, was competing along with his son Jack.

He said: “I was behind the accident and Jack was in front of it, and had just missed it.

“When I got to it there were bikes and bodies all over the floor.

“I slowed down looking at the bikes numbers and riders but I didn’t recognise anyone.

“The riders I saw all had their helmets on but one was not moving and there were medics all around him.

“The ambulances were straight there and I think the organisers did everything they could.

“The red flags were up straight away, the marshalling was spot on and I continued to the pits.

“It is a dangerous straight but those taking part know that. This is my 10th year of taking part and I have never known it to be stopped through an accident.”

Paul Simkiss, 38, of Manchester, was competing for the second year running and said: “I was behind the accident and it was very poor visibility, worse than last year.

“The wind was strong moving the bike around and then suddenly 10 riders were down in front of me.

“I hit the brakes but I couldn’t stop and so I tried to go around it.

“There was just a pile of bodies and bikes, and other riders falling off.”

Martin Barr, 22, of Belfast, a full-time motocross racer for Relentless Suzuki, was in eighth position when the crash happened behind him.

He said: “I got a good start but it was hard to see because it was so wet.

“Everyone behind me would not have been able to see well, especially with all the spray.

“I carried on unaware until we were told to stop.”

Another eyewitness described how the dreadful weather had resulted in poor visibility on the track.

Marcus Maggio, 37, of Whitehall, Bristol, said: “All you could see was a pile of bikes, it was just carnage everywhere.

“It was a case of one going down and then the rest went into it.

“You could not pinpoint exactly who had been hurt.

“I race every weekend and usually you get staggered starts but here everyone goes at once.”

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Rider Chris Marks, 37, of Leeds, who works as an engineer, had not got out of the pits due to a technical difficulty and, therefore, escaped the crash.

He said: “I had a flat tyre and I was still in the pits.

“This weekend has cost me £1,000 and I didn’t even get to do a lap, but when you hear 19 people are injured, some of them life threatening, you think it could have been any one of us.”

Jeremy Hughes, commissioner for Avon St John Ambulance, confirmed that 19 people had been taken to hospital, including people with life-threatening injuries.

He said: “We also carried out a helicopter evacuation from the site, with one rider airlifted and flown to Frenchay Hospital.

“We declared a major incident and all nearby hospitals were all put on standby.

“The other 18 riders were taken to hospital by ambulance to Frenchay, the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Southmead and Weston General Hospital.

“It took us a little while to prioritise the patients and get them evacuated, but the marshals and the security staff helped us to get to them quickly.

“The trouble was there were a lot of relatives trying to get through.”

The race had to be cancelled because of safety concerns as the 12 course ambulances were all taking casualties to hospital, leaving the course without any medical cover.

Spectators waited patiently hoping the race would restart, but a loudspeaker announcement was given stating the race would have to be rescheduled. It is likely to be rerun on Sunday.

Race organiser Gareth Hockey said: “We had severe casualties.

“Because of the amount of medical cover we have had to use we did not have sufficient cover to continue with the race. For those people who witnessed it, you can see it was a bad shunt.

“This event will be rescheduled for next Sunday and it will be free admission.”

On Saturday, nine riders were also taken to hospital with suspected broken bones, as well as suspected back and neck injuries.

Three of the riders were hurt during the youth races, and a further six competitors injured during the quad race.

Source thisisbristol

Tags: barr, beach, bodies, brakes, crash, helicopter, helmet, hockey, hospital, hughes, injury, motocross, relentless, sand, suzuki, weston, youth