Driver suffers serious injuries
FF1600
Northern Formula Ford 1600 Pre-’90 competitor Andrew Kluge was airlifted to hospital after suffering serious injuries in an incident in the first of two races at Oulton Park last Saturday.
The Manchester driver’s Van Diemen RF89 tangled with the Swift of Seamus Wild at Deer Leap, resulting in him spinning off the circuit and into Andrew Thomas’s abandoned Mygale, which remained trackside following an earlier incident. Kluge’s car collided with the gearbox of the stationary machine side-on. The impact punctured the Van Diemen’s fuel tank and bent the seat.
Wild was subsequently disqualified for his part in the accident.
Rapid response was provided by marshals, before Kluge was treated at the circuit medical centre and then taken by the North West Air Ambulance to Royal Stoke University Hospital.
An MRI scan revealed a torn aorta that required emergency surgery, along with injuries to other organs and a broken hip.
Kluge, who is expected to remain in hospital for at least a week, was said to be in “great spirits” when visited by former FF1600 frontrunner Chris Hodgen, a close friend of Kluge who helps to run his car.
“I thought the medics [at Oulton] were fantastic, and at Stoke they potentially saved a life,” said Hodgen.