Post by admin on Apr 24, 2011 18:22:45 GMT
;DMATT Ford hailed speedway’s bionic men after admitting Christian Hefenbrock’s shocking spill on Wednesday had left him “horrified”.
Hefenbrock was taken to Poole Hospital after somersaulting over his handlebars and smashing into the fence following a collision with team-mate Dennis Andersson against Swindon.
The meeting was delayed for 40 minutes while Hefenbrock was transferred to hospital, with Ford confirming yesterday that the German had suffered no broken bones.
And Poole Castle Cover chief Ford admitted he was left speechless once again by the resilience of the sport’s stars in picking themselves up off the shale.
Ford told the Echo: “It was a nasty crash and Dennis just wiped him out. There was no malice, but it might have been a little inexperience on Dennis’s part because he just wants to win every race whether it’s against the opposition or his team-mate.
“I’ve spoken to Christian, though, and there is nothing broken and he is hoping to make a track return quickly. He is very sore but thankfully nothing is broken and he just wants to race.
“Unfortunately, his bike is almost a write-off and it could be up to £2,000 worth of damage so the Rider Equipment fund has been asked for assistance in helping him make the repairs to his bike.”
Ford added: “You find that any spills on the straights are horrifying. You get used to seeing riders flying into the fence off the bends, but because they are flat out down the straights, visually it’s always terrible to see.
“I can think of several spills in the Grand Prix down the years on straights and they are never a good sight. Everyone drew breath when Christian went down, but these guys are made of stern stuff.
“Christian was thrown off his bike and hit the ground at 60 mph and yet he wants to ride again as soon as he can.
“People say that speedway riders leave their brains in the pits when they go out on track and for me, I always take Carl Fogarty’s words in his autobiography.
“He always said speedway riders were crazy and he wouldn’t have considered being one.
“This was a guy who was travelling at 200 mph in the World Superbikes.
“When someone like Foggy says that, it makes you realise what an incredibly dangerous sport speedway is.”
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