Danny Webb was pleased with his debut in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton recently, despite a massive accident ending his weekend early.
Unfortunately for Webb from Tunbridge Wells, there was literally nothing he could do to avoid Blaze Baker’s bike as he high sided right in front of Webb, who ran straight into the stricken bike, as a result he was launched into the air and came down on his head and shoulder.
The opening BSB race on the Sunday lunchtime was red flagged to allow him to receive treatment trackside before being taken to the medical centre for assessment.
It was confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder and suffered a concussion, which meant that he was also ruled out of the remaining race of the weekend on board the Swan Racing Aprilia.
Webb had been drafted in to provide support to the team this weekend as a number of other riders have over the season to enable the team to develop the bike during the season.
He thought that he had made strides forward for both he and the team on Saturday, having qualified in 24th place, before taking to the track for his first ever BSB race, he would finish 24th as well and was ready to make further strides forward in the sprint race on Sunday.
It wasn’t the way Danny had hoped the weekend would finish, but his focus is now on recovery ready for the remaining race commitments that he has for the 2025 season.
Giving his thoughts on the weekend, a bruised and battered Webb, said: “We had quite a good weekend considering the outcome. Going into it I knew that the team wanted to get some direction on the bike and to see how the team work really.
“It is a young superbike team, they worked great and I did what I expected I was going to do. Ok I wasn’t at the front, but I wasn’t too far off. I was actually closer than what I expected to be. We made some steps with the bike throughout the weekend. The first thing that stuck out to me was the bike was very difficult to ride.
“We got it more rider friendly throughout the weekend and then we made another step on the Sunday morning in warm up where was only 1.6 seconds off the quickest, which was the closest we had been all weekend.
“Then going into the sprint race, we were about 19th which wasn’t too bad. We were in a group and unfortunately someone just in front of me in the group crashed and I had nowhere to go and I hit their bike and unfortunately fell quite heavily. I dislocated my shoulder, got concussion and fractured a few ribs as well.
“It is what it is, it is part of the sport and there are always those risks when you put your leg over the bike. The Sencat team worked great and I really think in the future, I know they have some different plans for future with the Superbikes. I do think they can be a force to be reckoned with in the future. The team owner Chris has some great plans for them and I wish them all the success because it is these sorts of teams that we need in the paddock, and to give some young riders some good opportunities.
“Now it is time for me to heal up and get some rest and try and fix as quick as I can as my next event is in two weeks time aboard the classic Suzuki K1. Once again though a big thanks to everyone in the team for the chance over the weekend.”
Image courtesy of Colin Port Images – www.colinportimages.co.uk