Sidecar driver killed

Press, 28 December 1988, Page 6

Sidecar driver killed

PA Wanganui Wanganui’s Cemetery Circuit claimed its first fatality in 31 years when an Ashburton sidecar driver was killed. He was Tony Michael Fleming. He died during the second day of the international motor-cycle roadracing meeting. . Fleming, with his wife, Noelene Sowman, riding as passenger in sidecar No. 74, a Suzuki CCIIOO, placed twelfth in the opening sidecar race on the circuit. The pair struck trouble

in the first lap of the second sidecar event, losing control coming through an S-bend. The machine started to wobble, the fairing struck the curb, and spectators said the machine suddenly took off after heavy braking. Fleming was flung into a safety fence with such force that the impact ripped his safety helmet from his head. He came down between the fence and the sidecar in what the meeting promotor, Don Cosford, said was a freak accident.

Noelene Sowman grabbed hold of the handle bars and steered the Suzuki to a halt. She suffered minor injuries and shock. The race was halted. Riders held a special meeting and decided to continue the race later in the programme. The only other sidecar death at Wanganui was in 1963 when racing was held on a Moutoa Gardens circuit. William Linton, aged 24, of Rotorua, was killed when his machine hit the side of a building.