 |
 |
| This Week In Racing History: Sheene's Big Daytona Crash
180mph fall broke sheene's bones, but not his spirit by bjorn Tuesday, February 24, 2004 Two-time 500 world champion Barry Sheene crashed his XR11 Suzuki at Daytona during a private test in preparation for the upcoming Daytona 200 during this week in 1975. Sheene's fall remains one of the most infamous crashes in motorcycle racing history, if not for the savagery of the spill, then for Sheene's amazing comeback afterwards. Sheene crashed at 180mph on the exit of NASCAR turn four, on the front banking, when his Dunlop tire failed (although paddock rumor has swirled for years of a mechanical failure causing the tire to lock). The crash wasn't that horrific in terms of a tumbling body being torn apart—essentially what happened was Sheene tried to save the bike from crashing but after a big swap he landed chest-down on the banking and slid, then bounced —for a very long, long time. Sheene broke his leg, arm and shoulder in the horrific crash, but, amazingly, made a return to racing in the '75 season. Little known fact: Suzuki had a camera crew at the Speedway that day and caught most of the crash on tape. It was shown on television in the UK for years but hasn't been seen on TV in the US since the early 1980s. This footage shows fairly clearly the rear tire stopping very suddenly at high speed and a large cross-section of tire being ejected into the nearby grandstands. People run to Sheene's aid (among them Kel Carruthers and Gary Nixon) and as Sheene lays on the track you can see he's heavily damaged—especially his leg. The camera shows Sheene loaded into an ambulance and the bike into an old Speedway crash truck, and there's just a frame or two of the rear tire. It appears to have failed. The camera work does not end there as they follow Sheene to the local Daytona hospital and keep rolling as he is wheeled into the ER, now conscious and talking. He flirts with the nurses, tries to pinch the butt of one, and lays there, on the ER table, smoking a cigarette until someone tells him that's probably not a great idea what with all the flammable items around him. He is asked a series of questions by the Suzuki team manager, Merv Wright, and lets all agree there are no good questions to ask someone in that situation. "Where does it hurt worst?" Wright asks him, which when your leg is pointing the wrong way and your back has been de-skinned, is sort of tantamount to asking a teenager which part of his body feels best when he has sex—there's one area in which it feels fantastic, but, honestly, it feels good everywhere. Later in the footage, and after the finish of the 200, Sheene is visited by Gene Romero, who won the Daytona 200 that year. The camera runs as Sheene and Romero chat like racers do, mixing their talk from serious 'when ya gettin' out of here' to the posturing riders do constantly: Sheene tells Romero he was lucky that the crash happened, or else he'd have won it.ENDS PRIVACY POLICY | HOME | RETURN TO TOP © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Hardscrabble Media LLC |
