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erwin greven wrote: ↑6 years ago

Telegraaf wrote:[Dutch]De ravage was enorm in het Groningse Tolbert, toen in de 500cc race vele coureurs ten val kwamen. Op deze foto wordt coureur Peter Smetsers weggevoerd. Op de achtergrond de brancard met Jack Middelburg, die zeer ernstig hersenletsel bleek te hebben opgelopen.

Telegraaf wrote:[English]The havoc was enormous in Tolbert (province Groningen, the Netherlands), when many drivers crashed during the 500cc race. On this photo driver Peter Smetsers is taken away. In the background the stretcher with Jack Middelburg, who suffered very serious brain injury.

*note: at that moment the situation for Jack was life treatening, he had not passed away yet..

I translated the newspaper article.

Jumping Jack very seriously injured

The first motorcycle road race for the Dutch championship took a heavy toll yesterday.
After a disastrous crash, the wounded Jack Middelburg, one of the top international drivers, was send to the City and Acedemic Hospital of Groningen.
Jack Middelburg had suffered severe brain damage. The neurosurgeons of the Groningen hospital fought hard for the life of the Naaldwijk driver. Last night his situation got even worse when he was having a cerebral haemorrhage.


The championship road races in Tobert brought the two rivals Jack Middelburg and Boet van Dulmen to the start for the first time in the season. Last week at the opening races in Heeswijk-Dinther, Middelburg fought a sharp game with Rob Punt, teammate of Boet van Dulmen. Middelburg won that fight.

On the narrow street circuit of Tolbert in Groningen, things went differently. Many crashes had occurred already in the smaller classes, where drivers such as Willem Heijkoop went down. Also in the 250cc race multiple Dutch champion Mar Schouten crashed.

Disastrous.
A disastrous event happened in the second lap of the 500cc race, the crown of the KNMV championship races. Jack Middelburg's rear wheel snapped away when he tried to overtake Rob Punt far off the prefered line.

Eyewitnesses said that Middelburg even hit Rob Punt's rear wheel.

Middelburg's bike bounced back towards the track, as did the driver himself.
Mr. van Dulmen could not avoid his colleague and he hit Middelburg. Van Dulmen's engine then caught fire. At that time, John Schreuder and Peter Smetsers came rushing in. They could not avoid the accumulation of drivers and machines, and they too drove into the turmoil with great speed.
Rup Punt was already gone then. All riders involved in the crash were quickly transported to the Groningen hospital. Van Dulmen and Schreuder were able to leave the hospital last night after an extensive investigation.
Both have suffered minor injuries. Mar Schouten was allowed to go home too last night. He had broken a metatarsal bone and bruised a rib.

Critical
The situation of Jack Middelburg, the 34-year-old Dutch champion in the 500cc class was very serious. He was operated neurosurgical surgery last night.
His condition remained very critical. Later in the evening he also had a brain haemorrhage. The surgeons in Groningen, who last year carried out a miraculous recovery to world champion Franco Uncini, continued to fight for the life of the Naaldwijk greenhouse owner.

Last night at half past 10 his skull was lifted. Although the reports from the hospital were far from optimistic and the situation of Jack deteriorated, the surgeons decided around midnight to a new three-hour operation.

The 500cc race was of course discontinued.

https://www.facebook.com/FIMSidecar/ wrote:FIM Sidecar World Championship
9. September um 18:59 ·

Birchall takes win as Reeves, Wilkes DNF!!

The temperature was hot, 30 degrees! 18 laps, it was a hard race.

Coming here Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes had a healthy 51 point lead in the championship. But a DNF yesterday had the team working well into the early hours of the morning trying to get their “Adolf RS” Yamaha up and running for today’s race. They managed to get onto the grid with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

As the lights went out it was Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes who got the hole shot into the first corner, Ben and Tom Birchall on their “LCR” Yamaha followed with Bennie Streuer and Kevin Rousseau on their “LCR” Kawasaki. A great start from Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer on their “LCR” Yamaha, they were right on the tail of Streuer/Rousseau. Pekka Paivarinta and Jussi Veravainen on their “LCR” Honda had a bit of a rough ride into the first corner, there was contact between them and another team resulting with the sidecar wheel arch getting pushed in, the team continued but it would cause them problems later in the race. Next up was Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney with their “LCR” Suzuki. Right on the tail of Blackstock and Rosney was Michael Grabmuller and Sebastien Lavorel with their “LCR” Yamaha; next up was Scott Lawrie and Michael Fairhurst with their “LCR” Yamaha.

For the next few laps the race was hot at the front, but there were hard battles throughout the field.
Starting the second lap the Birchall Brothers pulled alongside Reeves and Wilkes going into the first corner. Reeves and Wilkes ran wide to the outside of the track and onto the grass. This was to be the end of the race for Reeves and Wilkes, they managed to get going again, but sitting in sixth place they pulled off track two thirds of the way round the third lap. Their off track excursion had sucked something into their engine causing it to stop. That was it for them, a very costly DNF.

With the Birchall Brothers way out in front and nobody near them for any threat it was down to Streure/Rousseau, Wyssen/Hofer, and Paivarinta/Veravainen to battle it out for the final podium places.

Sam and Adam Christie with their “LCR” Yamaha had managed to get up with the group behind the leaders and started to battle hard with them.

Lap six saw Lawrie/Fairhurst side by side with Blackstock/Rosney on the fast run downhill to a tight right hand corner. Blackstock/Rosney were to spin on track letting Grabmuller/Lavorel and the Christie Brothers through. Blackstock/Rosney got going again but they were to pull in to pit lane with their machine not steering.

By this time in the race things were starting to settle down, with all teams holding their own for position. The Birchall Brothers were way out in front; Streuer and Rousseau were starting to make a good gap over Wyssen/Hofer, who was fast getting caught by Paivarinta and Veravainen. Wyssen/Hofer started to slow, this let Paivarinta/Veravainen through for the third place. Lawrie/Fairhurst were locked in battle with Grabmuller/Lavorel, this was letting the Christie Brothers catch fast too. Grabmuller/Lavorel managed to get past Lawrie/Fairhurst, when they passed, Lawrie/Fairhurst could not make the time back, and past came the Christie Brothers too. The Christie Brothers were on a charge now, they could see Grabmuller/Lavorel and it was not long till they caught and passed them too.

As the race came to an end the Birchall Brothers took the race win to the jubilation of the team hanging over the pit wall, this win brought them to only one point behind Reeves/Wilkes in the championship.

Streuer/Rousseau took second place, 28.928 down on the Birchall’s. But the team are so happy with how the race went, and the overall weekend in a whole.

Paivarinta/Veravainen took third, but they had to slow throughout the race, as the wheel arch that had been damaged earlier in the race caused their machine to overheat a lot during the race, driver Paivarita drove a very conservative race.

Another great result for the Christie Brothers, they fought hard and it paid off for them, a fourth place, and another great weekend for them.

A good fifth place for Grabmuller/Lavorel, they too worked hard throughout the weekend and were rewarded with their fifth place.

Sixth went to Lawrie/Fairhurst, it was a hard race for the team; once they were passed they just could not make up the time that they had lost.

Seventh place went to a slowing Wyssen/Hofer. They really enjoyed the first half of the race, but just could not stay with the teams in front.

Janez Remse and Manfred Wechselberger with their “Adolf RS” Yamaha took eighth place. They held their own against the ninth place team of Peter Kimeswenger and Jens Lehnertz on their “LCR” Kawasaki. They had a hard weekend having to change their engine, but are happy how it turned out.

Jakob Rutz and Marcel Fries with their “LCR” Yamaha took tenth place but one lap down. They hope that they will have a better weekend at the last round in Germany.

The final round of the championship will be at the beginning of October, at Oschersleben, Germany. With only one point between the two leading teams, and only one race in Oschersleben, who knows what will happen!

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago LOLs though, in well informed circles they are sometimes referred to as the Birchall Sisters because of constant whinery

Everso Biggyballies wrote: ↑5 years ago

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago LOLs though, in well informed circles they are sometimes referred to as the Birchall Sisters because of constant whinery

I was not aware of that side of them.

Full FIM anti-doping statement

Rider Anthony West provisionally suspended

The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) has advised Australian rider Anthony West that he is provisionally suspended pursuant to Article 7.9 of the FIM Anti-doping Code (CAD).

The decision to provisionally suspend Mr. West was mandatory following the receipt of a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Cologne indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of a non-specified substance under Section 6 (Stimulants) of the 2018 FIM Prohibited List, in a urine sample collected from him at an in-competition test carried out by the FIM at the round of the 2018 FIM Supersport World Championship held in Misano, San Marino, on 8 July 2018.

Mr. West has the right to request and attend the analysis of his B sample. Mr. Anthony West is provisionally suspended with effect from 14 September 2018. He is therefore barred from participating in any motorcycling competition or activity until further notice.

Under Article 7.9.3.2 CAD, Mr. West may request lifting of his provisional suspension. Under the World Anti-Doping Code and the FIM Anti-Doping Code, the FIM is unable to provide any additional information at this time.

MonteCristo wrote: ↑5 years ago Pity (about him being a dick - not the ban).

Was great to watch in the wet, though.