SPEEDWAY Scunthorpe 55 Wightlink Islanders 39
A CRASH during the Islanders National League defeat to Scunthorpe last Friday left Ben Hopwood in hospital with a broken back.
Ben was racing in the third heat when he hit a steel post behind a fence, but he picked himself up to take part in a re-run of the race.
However, on returning to the pits, it was clear Ben couldn’t continue.
"Amazingly he managed to get up but he was clearly in some discomfort and when got to the pits he was in agony," said Islanders’ team manager, Kevin Shepherd.
Ben, who lives in Manchester, is now home from hospital and hopes to visit the Island to watch the team next week.
The Islanders are hoping to name Paul Starke as his replacement.
The race against Scunthorpe failed to follow on from the Islanders’ victory against Bournemouth, as they went down 55-39.
At no point during the game did they have the lead, with one of the few highlights a 1-5 victory by Nick Simmons and Lee Smethills during heat five.
The Islanders’ fixture against Dudley on Tuesday at Smallbrook was cancelled due to a waterlogged track.
Buxton Hitmen 51 Wightlink Islanders 41
A BRAVE and battling performance against the Buxton Hitmen couldn’t prevent the Islanders going down on Sunday .
The first heat saw Nick Simmons hold on for a victory, with Lee Smethills taking third to give the Islanders a 2-4 lead.
The scores were soon level after Tom Hill bit the dust and was excluded, but Dean Felton, on one of his old stamping grounds, was stalked for the entire race and eventually passed by Jason Garrity.
The home lead went to ten with a 5-1 score in heat nine as the home side began to take control, before Nick Simmons suffered his first defeat in heat eleven, leaving the score at 38-28.
Brendon Johnson won the penultimate heat after Hill was excluded, but home rider Lewis Dalloway also fell and despite remounting on his machine, was excluded to make the score 48-38.
The final heat finished 3-3, ending the tie 51-41 in Buxton’s favour.