{"id":491328,"date":"2010-05-01T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2010-05-01T22:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=41263"},"modified":"2024-11-02T23:50:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T23:50:53","slug":"broken-neck-broken-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/broken-neck-broken-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken Neck, Broken Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My early days of racing gave very few opportunities, starting with a Sprite I slowly progressed to Formula Ford and then onto Formula Three. However, had it not been for the support of Alan McKechnie, I may not have \u201cmade it\u201d at all. Injury, too, was something that hindered me. While testing at Castle Combe I sustained a broken neck following a crash, Nigel Mansell-like, but with a lot less fuss, of course. The accident happened mid-season in July 1971, the wrong time of year, in a motor racing sense, to have an injury like that\u2014not that there\u2019s ever a good time to break your neck. I was taken to Bath Hospital and after a while transferred to Chertsey Hospital where I had a bone graft, three or four vertebrae wired together, and nursed back to full fitness by November\u2014they did a great job.<\/p>\n

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Bob Evans
Photo: Pete Austin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Racing wise, I was offered a Formula Ford drive by Neil Trundle and his partner, Ron Dennis, I think they built the car together to pass an engineering exam. The drive was arranged by a friend of Neil\u2019s who later worked at McKechnie Racing. I remember feeling very tired after the race, but at least I came through it. Following that, McKechnie Racing rented an F3 March in the Christmas race series, and I remember that Alan clubbed together with Tony Hilder (designer of the McKechnie Puma) to pay for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n