Just in case you needed a reminder why safety standards matter at a racetrack, here’s a video from the UK to drive the point home.
Everything’s going smoothly for the first few seconds of this track day video, until a bike’s bodywork comes apart and strikes the rider behind. knocking him unconscious. Miraculously, despite crashing while blacked out at high speed, the rider survived the crash. Afterwards, he had this to say on Facebook:
“Clearly we live in a world where people cannot be left to make their own decisions and must have their hand held through life.
It’s sickening to think that Trackday Organisers are all to quick to prevent you from joining the circuit if your noise level is 1db above the set limit but will not check to see if the machines themselves are fit for purpose.
03/06/2017 could of easily been my last day due to the faults of another person. This incident was caused by carelessness from the owner of the Yellow ZX10R. Properly fastened and secured bodywork doesn’t ‘fall off’. The bellypan made impact with my head at speeds easily exceeding 140mph. I was knocked unconscious immediately, allowing my body to fall back and drape off the side of the bike.
Luckily, I have no memory of the incident, only that I had left pitlane and woke up in hospital with blurred vision coupled with seeing different colours in each eye. All I have is a totalled bike and some videos to put meaning to the mess.
Had I of stayed attached to the bike upon impact, I doubt I’d be sharing this with you now.
I doubt the Trackday Organisers will ever scrutinise machinery, they are covered against loss of life in their Terms and Conditions, it’s not in their interest to hold the hands of those who cannot help themselves.
I have been extremely fortunate to come away from the crash without serious injury. I will certainly never do a Trackday again. I’ll stick with the Official BSB Tests and respectable Club Racing Organisations where machines are checked for safety prior to riding!
I’d like to say thankyou to whoever pulled up after the incident, even though it also puts yourselves in danger.
The aim of a trackdays is to provide you with the opportunity to use your machine at speed in a ‘safe’ environment. Poor judgement could end someone’s life.”
