Commentator hit as car hurtles up bank

THE penultimate hillclimb of the season was very nearly tinged with tragedy. It is remarkable that no one was seriously hurt in a bizarre accident that saw Lucy Le Lacheur in her Peugeot 205 GTI hurtle up a bank at the start of the S bends and hit a tree before coming to rest on top of race commentator Lee Corbet.

Twenty-year-old student Le Lacheur was taken to the PEH with suspected concussion and back pains.

Corbet suffered heavy bruising on his legs and was seen by the paramedics on the scene.

Island FM presenter James Bentley, who had been sitting next to Corbet, suffered minor bruising and scratches on his legs.

'She clipped the bank and then headed up towards us,' said Corbet.

'She hit a tree which took most of the impact away. It's an unusual place to go off.

'All in a day's racing. I've still got my sense of humour. That's what matters - the bruises will go down.

'I hope she's OK. She's probably a bit shaken.

'It must have been awful to be in the driver's seat when that happens.'

It is believed that Le Lacheur was knocked unconscious when her Peugeot broadsided into the bank opposite Terres House and the jolt made her bang her head on the ceiling.

In her momentary black out and with the throttle on full, the machine burned across the road and up the opposite bank where Corbet and Bentley were sitting a good distance from the track.

The action was held up for an hour while the fire brigade cut Le Lacheur free from her car and she was taken to the PEH.

It was not the only serious crash of the meeting. Earlier in the day Roger King also was taken to hospital with back pains when his Rocksand Jaguar's throttle got stuck and he ended up crashing into the granite wall on the first bend. But the man who mixes racing with timekeeping was back on the start line later on in the day.

In-between the incidents it was veteran karter Neil Ridley who held the fastest time of the day when he went up the hill in 31.76sec. in his Epm Anderson. But was he impressed with his efforts?

'No, not really,' he said.

'It's hard to motivate myself these days. I've been doing it for an awfully long time.

'My fastest time wasn't my cleanest run. I missed a gear on the top straight which cost me two tenths of a second.

Someone who was clearly happier with his day was Tim Le Pelley who broke the Special Saloons up to 1400cc record of 35.75 which was set by Jerseyman P. James 20 years ago in August 1987. Le Pelley in his Maximum Security Mini 16v went up in 35.69.

It also means that he has emulated his father Dave and brother Paul by holding all five records available for his class, which are the Guernsey sprint, the two hillclimb records for each club and the Alderney sprint and hill records.

'I'm over the moon - I'm ecstatic,' he said. 'The last few meetings have had bad weather and to have a good day you need good weather, and it was good today. Plus I had my mind focused on it.

Another record to be taken off a Jerseyman was in the British Bikes Pre 1975 class. Colin de Jersey, on his father Roy's 1959 Holeshot Triumph Cub, posted a time of 39.27 to smash John Fennel's best time of 40.48 that has stood since 1993.

'I'm very pleased,' he said.

'It's a bit tricky to ride as it's British and all the controls are back to front.'

The other class record of the day went to Paul Guymar in the Modified Saloons.