Bike racer recovering after crash

A man who suffered a serious head injury after a motorcycle crash at Hampton Downs, in Waikato, is recovering well.

The man, in his 30s, crashed into a barrier on the race track on Saturday and was flown to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition. He was wearing a helmet and protective gear and was competing in a national championship race series.

Hampton Downs commercial manager Mike Marsden said yesterday the man was recovering well.

Rider safety was a big priority in the motorsport environment, he said, and there were always three ambulances on the circuit for those kinds of events.

“We make that a real focus of the business. He would have been seen to within 30 seconds by our first responders.”

Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew chief Mark Cannell said they were called at 10.32am to reports of a man with critical injuries following a crash on the race track.

It was estimated the bike had been coming out of a turn at 60km/ h-70km/h before hitting a barrier comprised of steel and concrete.

The race track was shut down, he said, and good clinical care had been given before they arrived.

“The patient fortunately had regained a certain amount of his level of consciousness,” Cannell said.

He was reassessed as having serious injuries, Cannell said.

The significant impact marks on his helmet indicate that if his helmet had been in poor condition it would have been a different story, he said.