27 August 2000: KDMC/IRsport 125 Championship, Knockhill
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Race 1: 10th / Race 2: 8th
Championship position: 4th=

If there's one thing that will set back a racing season, it's injury. It's more frustrating when it was caused by a ridiculous accident that should never have happened. Unfortunately, it seems that one should never underestimate the stupidity of other road users.

And so, at 8.05pm on the 31st of July, I was riding through the town to a meeting with my girlfriend on the back of my aprilia rs250 when I saw a car coming from the opposite direction beginning to turn across my lane. I did my best to avoid the collision, but we ended up head on and my girlfriend and I were thrown over the car, landing on the pavement further down the road.

Long stories short: Anne fractured her elbow, I fractured my femur and received extensive soft tissue damage in my leg, hand and foot. So when I went to Knockhill on the 26th of August, I knew things would be hard. The injuries were slowly subsiding, but more importantly I hadn't been on a motorcycle since the accident, with the exception of test-riding a Ducati 748 and Suzuki GSX-R600 in an attempt to get back into the swing of things.

Things were indeed hard. I crashed in practice on the Saturday, causing some damage to the bodywork on by bubble&squeak Honda but coming away with nothing more serious than clinical sheepishness (the footpeg had fallen off going into a fast left-hander; although I managed to get the bike back upright, I ran off the track and tried to grasstrack it with one foot dangling uselessly off the bike).

Race day came on Sunday and I managed to finish 10th and 8th through considerable pain. The whole day took on the shape of a pear; I had too much fuel in the tank (doh), and my contact lens came out during the first race. Trying to chase down other riders with one eye shut is a losing battle. The organisation was pathetic, with delays at every opportunity thanks to a lack of communication between the organisers and the circuit. And that was that.

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