Bike riders hurt

Press, 21 December 1978, Page 19

Bike riders hurt

PA Auckland Several riders had spills at the international motor-cycle races at Pukekohe.

Two competitors, Martin Vernazoni and Alan de Latour, were admitted to Middlemore Hospital following incidents in separate races.

Vernazoni fell off his Yamaha 350 in the production race. He was admitted to hospital with a broken collarbone and was reported to be in a fairly satisfactory condition last night.

De Latour, of New Plymouth, came off his bike during the first 750 c.c. race. He was taken to hospital with concussion but was later discharged.

Other riders who parted company with their machines included the Englishman, Steve Parrish (Suzuki RGSOO), and John Woodley (Blenheim. Suzuki RGSOO), who were battling for the lead in the Bryan Scobie Memorial race.

Oil pouring from Parrish’s bike sent the rear wheel sliding and Woodley had nowhere to go and joined Parrish sprawling on the track. Stu Avant (Christchurch) just managed to stay on his machine but lost time and Vaughn Coburn (Australia) won the race.

Parrish (aged 25) also flipped his bike in a spectacular fall on Saturday. Although he walked away from the crash unhurt, his Suzuki was extensively damaged. The crash came early in the second practice session. Parrish was moving into Railway Bend at more than lOOkm/h when his rear w’heel locked, sending the bike into a skid. As he tried to correct the skid the front wheel bit into the track and flipped rider and machine into a bank.

Earlier he said he liked the Pukekohe circuit and in the first session clocked 66.25ec against the track record of 64.45ec. Just before his crash Parrish dropped down to 65.2 sec—the day's fastest time.

Also looking in top form were Avant and Woodley. Avant, just back from Australia where he won the national championship by a huge margin, was riding a brand new bike brought by Jim i Bramwell after his own bike became held up in Jakarta, where he raced it a fortnight ago