When i was young there was not a month went by without one of my heroes from motorcycle racing or car racing being killed in some race somewhere , the machines , the tracks , and the medical and rescue services were not as advanced as they are now... With each death more was learned , and the sport got a little safer...
You would think that seeing some of my heroes die would have put me off taking part in such a crazy sport , but it didn,t , i could not wait to get out on the track myself...
Unless you have this need for racing in your blood , its impossible to understand why we do it , there is a point in everyones brain where alarm bells start going off , the brain tells you ..hey hang on ..this is dam dangerous , and you slow down , or better still don,t take part in such crazy pastimes , but for some of us the point at which the alarm bells start going off is way beyond what you normal people consider risky...
Its not that we have some kind of death wish , far from it , we have a fear of injury just like anyone else , probably less of a fear of death , but being crippled scares us as much as it does you... We believe that we are able to control a machine at speeds way beyond what the ordainary mortal can cope with , we think we are lucky , we think the death and injury that has happened to our friends will not happen to us , often we are wrong of course...
Deep inside we know that we too can die or be badly injured taking part in the sport we love , but we are able to push these thoughts out of our mind , and when we are injured , the first thing we want to know , is how long before we can get back on the track again...?
I had many years in motorcycle racing , before switching to cars , and then back to bikes again , i have lost count of how many times i have gone ripping down the road on my backside , quite often without injury , but i was on first name terms with most of the casualty staff at any hospital near a race track... Usually it was broken arms and legs , a few smashed collar bones , but i did manage to get myself hooked up to a life support machine once with a list of injuries that would certainly have killed me had it not been for expert doctors at the trackside... Did it stop me , nah , i was back on my bike before the bones had set , with my neck still in a brace , and my wrist bound up with lollipop sticks where i had cut the plaster off...
The pain from some of the injuries was pretty grim , but standing in front of a huge crowd after winning a race more than made it worthwhile...
Car racing seemed a bit tame after the bikes , but i did like the idea that you could slam into the crash barriers at 160 mph and walk away from it , didn,t do the car much good , but the driver was much better protected than a bike rider , but at this sort of speed its still possible to hurt yourself... Its much safer these days than it was when i did it , but as the latest news proves , any sport where speed is involved carries the risk of injury or death...
Formula one is now one of the safest motor sports there is , the cars are very strong around the drivers compartment , and the tracks have lots of room , with gravel traps to slow the car down before you hit something hard... Rallying is a bit different , the cars are again pretty strong , but often you are racing on what is normally a public street , with walls , houses , trees and other such solid objects that will ensure the car takes all the impact... Many formula one drivers consider rallying to be too dangerous to take part in...
I very much hope Kubica makes a good recovery , and can once again take part in formula one , but the odds are against him.... For every seat in a formula one car there are four drivers who would like to put their ass in it , and team managers have plenty to choose from..Formula one is not just a sport , its a big business , involving huge sums of money , and the sponsors expect the team to produce wins... The team manager has to pick drivers that can pull off these wins , and any driver that is off form due to injury is liable to lose his job very quickly...
I wish Kubica all the luck to hang on to his job , i know just how he feels , and his only thought now will be getting fit enough to get back in the car...i hope he makes it....if he does not , i guess he may well head off to Champ car racing on the ovals of the USA...
Whatever happens....he will be back out on the tracks...one way or another....
|
