GUERNSEY motorbike racer Phil Guillou will learn later today whether he has a broken neck after walking away from a 95mph crash at Brands Hatch at the weekend. He was racing his £35,000 Yamaha machine in the MotorStar British 250 Grand Prix Championship and has no doubts that his injuries could have been more serious.
‘It could have been a lot worse. There have been a lot of people who have gone off at that same part of that track who have been paralysed. I could have been paralysed,’ he said.
Returning to the island late yesterday afternoon, he recalled his close escape and how the accident happened during practice on Saturday.
‘We were out qualifying and everything was going well. I was 17th and 1.3 seconds off pole [position]. The first 24 riders were covered by just two seconds,’ he said.
‘Just before the end of the session, you put a very fast lap in. At the start of the really fast lap I was trying to get power coming out of Clearways. Then it just high-sided me and I flew off the front of my bike.
‘On the data log it was showing 95mph when I crashed. It went as I was coming out of one of the fast corners. I carried on falling and tumbled on to a gravel track,’ he said.
‘I travelled a long, long way - about 80 yards. The crash was so long you were not too sure what was going to happen. You could probably have died from it.’
He believed it was part and parcel of racing, having suffered breaks to five fingers, a wrist, ankle and knee previously during his 12-year road racing career in the UK.
‘You have to expect it riding at this level. It was a very lucky escape when you see the mess of the bike,’ said Guillou, a 35-year-old paint sprayer.
‘The helmet was wrecked and the leathers are wrecked. They were full of body armour, which saved me a lot. Some other riders who were following me said it looked like a bad one.
‘I’m going to get some X-rays tomorrow. I might have broken a bone in my neck, shoulder and thumb. It feels like a small bone has gone in my neck and shoulder,’ he said yesterday.
‘I’m not too, too bad, just really bruised and a bit sore. I have some cuts on my arm and bruises on my arms and legs. It could have been a lot worse.’
He has been unable to swallow any food properly since the incident.
About £3,000-worth of damage has been caused to his bike, which went head first into a tyre wall.
It needs a new chassis, which should arrive from Ireland this weekend, and was damaged too badly to participate in the race on Sunday.
‘My mechanics said there was no way it could race so we just packed up.’
Guillou said that the track had been surprisingly very slippery on a dry practice day.
‘For some reason there was no grip,’ he said.
Despite the crash, he has no intention of giving up and wants to get back onto his bike as quickly as possible.
‘The next round of the British Championships is at Croft this weekend but it won’t be ready.’
The next time he hopes to race will be in the North-West 200 - a major road race in Ireland on 8 May.
‘It could happen to anybody. When you are trying that hard, you are going to crash,’ said Guillou.
Article posted on 17th April, 2007 - 12.00am
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