Update on Rhys and Darcy Holmes

[Billy]

Just spoke to Darcys brother and the news is as bad as first thought for these two following their coming together during the warm up lap for the first superbike race on Saturday.Rhys has three broken bones in his right leg and is to be helicoptered back too Tauranga hospital today for possible surgery and Darcy has begun to get some feeling back in his arms so they are hopeful with a bit more time he will recover fully but they are going to leave him in Palmy hospital till they know exactly what they are dealing with.So fingers crossed and if you live in Palmy what say you get up the hospital and pay Darcy a visit.Will update this site with contact details for Rhys once he is settled in a ward.Should make for some interesting discussion over the dinner table once they are both back at home LOL.Cheers Billy

[Goblin]

Oh no! Gutted to see this!
I hope they both make a full and speedy recovery.
Keep us updated ok Billy.

Rhys was doing so bloody well too.

[Riff Raff]

Thanks for the update Billy. I've been quite concerned about Darcy's condition.

[Toast]

All the best to those two boys for full recoveries. So glad that Darcy is not quite as bad as he first looked after the incident.

[Pussy]

Thanks, Billy. It's always a terrible feeling to see that sort of thing happen, bloody rapt Rhys and Darcy are on the improve. Hang tough, guys

[et al]

Thanks for the update Billy - that crash was a horrible incident. Lets hope for the best possible outcome, for them both.

[bistard]

Thanks for the update
get well soon guys,was a horrific sight!!

[codgyoleracer]

Thanks for the update Billy, will pop in & catch up with him.

[chanceyy]

thanks for the updates ... it was a bad accident.

heal quick Darcy & Rhys

[Nasty]

Thanks for the update ... getting feeling back is a good start ... hope the surgery goes well ... heal quick guys

[JayRacer37]

Horrible, horrible accident.

Was terrible to ride past and not seeing Darcy moving at all...

And good to see people wise up afterwards and use hands to signal that they were slowing down on the warm up lap, and only slowing after higgins. Definitly a habit I think Vic should promote and keep track of, keep us doing it...its a BIG plus to saftey, and keeping warm up laps organised.

Great to hear that Darcy and Rhys are better than some inital thoughts, and improving. Best wishes guys.

Jay.

[Two Smoker]

Cheers for the update Billy... Was not nice to watch, when i was literally right next to the accident... As Jay said, i made sure when ever someone slowed down considerably or on the back straight, and it really should be reinforced... Im hoping to and hopefully others will, bring it up at the next riders briefing...

[Wasp]

it looked pretty bad up close, i must have come into the pits a bit pale as Jaz asked if i was ok

lots of bike peices to pick up....

[Clivoris]

Glad to hear the update Billy. Sounding more hopeful than it did on the day. I hope the healing goes well. Haven't felt that fear for a while.
Regarding the prompts to signal slowing down. I get the point but I'm pretty sure that it was mentioned at riders briefing, and always is. It is a reality of our sport that despite all the reminders in the world, once we are on the track our brains work differently. Hell, when I used to do the grid marshalling there were always riders that had completely forgotten where they should be on the grid. Not stupid or ignorant, just thinking about other stuff.
The number of reminders to signal don't seem to make much difference. It seems to take something like this to bump it up the priority list. As always, if anyone has suggestions to improve safety or the running of the Actrix Winter Series meetings, drop an e-mail to the club via the website.

[sugilite:Me]

After spending Saturday afternoon and evening with Darcy and Rhys in A and E and seeing them in ward 24 again on Sunday I'm pleased to report that that the injuries were not as bad as first feared.

Rhys (who was leading the superbike class on points) has a ankle broken in 3 places and they will operate in Tauranga hospital once the swelling as subsided.
Darcy was extremely lucky to survive and it was horrifying seeing his convulsing body in the ambulance. He also had suspected spinal cord damage, but after all the scans were done this is looking very promising and Darcy should recover from it, but hell he is beaten up! Just as well he is a tough bugger!

When I got to accident and emergency they were in separate areas. They both told me the exact same thing that had caused the accident.
So here it is through their eyes.
They were both on their 2nd warm up lap and were accelerating hard up Denis Hulme straight when a group of 3 riders who had till that point been setting a fairly hot pace suddenly slowed and started weaving all over the track doing the tyre warm up thing. All without looking behind them once.
Rhys had to take evasive action and Darcy had no choice but to collide with His son at something like 200 kmh. The impact totally shattered the rear wheel of Rhys's bike

The riders that caused this then went obliviously on their way (even doing similar things in the warm up laps of their other races, so I hear) and had quite good meetings judging by their race reports.

I personally did not see the incident, but I'd like to say to people in the superbike field in particular. This is a serious activity. These bikes are insanely fast and it is not some Sunday pit bike race held at the local go cart track.
Even the smallest of errors can cause oneself or others to pay the ultimate price.

Yes, weaving to warm up tyres can be a valid practise, but for fucks sake look behind you before you start.
Personally if the day is cold and you have crap warmers like I do, weave like hell, BUT leave last to avoid trouble and don't be so slow to hold up the grid and make sure you know your grid position.

Thank God they have survived, it was hard seeing a close friend of 23 years and his son you watched grow from a baby being carted away in ambulances.

A HUGE thanks to those that helped out in the pits loading their wasted bikes onto their truck. And major thanks to Al Love for getting their truck to their home near Katikati, Kudos to you, it was one less headache for the family to sort out.