We have just today (Sat) been to see Roger at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and he asked us to post an update on the forum. He is still very battered and bruised and on supplementary oxygen, though he was well enough to recount the tale of his crash – and to ask after Eddie – but will clearly be laid up for some time. He has been told he will need to remain in the QMC for at least a week. We asked if he wanted visitors to the Hospital but he said not for now as he needs to put all of his energy into getting better. As expected, his wife Marina has been giving him lots of stick! He is currently saying that he has taken the difficult decision, with Marina’s help, not to return to racing. His feeling is that it is simply too dangerous for him to continue to ride alongside amateur racers on such a powerful bike.
As most are aware, Rogers’s bike was badly damaged three years ago when it was loaned to Steve Plater. After a loving and costly rebuild its first outing was at the last weekend of September at Cadwell Park – Round 6 of the BHR 2018 event. Being very light and putting down 45bhp at the back wheel, this was of course no ordinary machine, and Roger was delighted to get three race wins on the Saturday.
Alas, Sunday was not so successful. Rogers’s first grid position was right at the back of the field. This of course is not a handicap to a true racer and Roger got an excellent start. The nearest competitor in front was very slow off the line so Roger had to swerve to avoid him. Unfortunately, the next rider in line had a similar very slow start and Roger was unable to avoid ploughing into the back of him at around fifty miles an hour and knocked himself unconscious. The medical team at Cadwell realised pretty quickly that Roger had done himself some serious damage so he was taken to Lincoln where X-Rays revealed twelve broken ribs. As several were broken in more than one place, specialist surgery was deemed necessary so he was transferred to Queen’s, and on Wednesday 3rd October underwent a twelve hour operation to join all the bits back together (including corrections to surgery he had some years ago at Leicester).
It wasn’t until the early hours of Monday morning that Marina and Roger’s son Richard managed to get the bike home to South Croxton. The front wheel is no longer round, the forks were destroyed and the frame will need to be straightened out, but Roger hopes to see it back in action at some time in the future.
We are sure everyone will join us in wishing Roger a speedy recovery.
Chris and Keith
