WEST Walton banger racing legend Steve Hemmings, who called it a day in front of thousands of fans at an event held in his honour in King’s Lynn on Saturday, had some of the most spectacular crashes in the history of the sport.
Ten years ago, he miraculously walked away from a multiple car pile up at Wimbledon Stadium.
Hemmings, who was completing that night in the World Final, can still vividly remember the horrific crash.
He said: “The one at Wimbledon, it was a Series 1 Jaguar. It looked quite clean but I think it had been patched up a lot over the years and the rot was inside it, hidden under the new sills and what not.
“I remember lining up and I’d seen Tiggy [266 Ian Meaker, driving a hearse] a few cars ahead of me and I thought, ‘Right, that’s the one’.
“Obviously he’d be going a bit slower than me, I hoped. I cut across, because I was on the outside. I cut across, picked him up and we all went in.
“But then the car snapped and I had the steering wheel on my lap at the end of the straight.
“And I thought, ‘Hmm’. Very rarely I would stop a race but I was waving my arms and I thought, ‘No, I’m in a bad place’.
“But before I knew it, he just didn’t have time to think and got trained straight in.
“I could just about get my hand in to get my buckle and I slipped out one side. You just don’t have time to think.
“It happened in a split second and I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m still here – does everything move?
“Yep, let’s try and get out’.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here