“It only hurts when I laugh,” says Nelson racer Dennis Andreassend of his spectacular three-and-a half full rollover with cleverly executed half-twist landing at the Densem Memorial race meeting.

“It was my own silly fault, I was away from the start and watching the other class one cars go backward at a rate of knots and when I came up to the jump, instead of going up to third and accelerating over it I stayed in second and backed off the throttle and it kicked up the tail.  I had so much time in the air I was able to hit the engine kill switch before we touched down!”

The crash damaged the nose and tail of the Cougar, crushing the rear of the engine cage and flattening the exhaust so painstakingly rebuilt by Tony McCall after he inverted the car at the opening round of the national championship.

“It was a bit hard on me as well, and I have to say having to lie around in hospital was pretty boring.  It was great to get a steady stream of visitors from the Canterbury club and the phone calls from club members were great.  A big thanks to Geoff Densem, Wayne Moriarty, Bryan Chang and the rest of the mob – oh and big ups to Daniel, though it seems he’s redefined “first” in his account of the crash, where he says he was first on the scene – as you can see from the video ref’s footage he’s behind the two Densem cars and a fair way behind my Evo.  No worries, if he’s still got the car I can help set him straight on what “first” means next year!” 

Andreassend says the rollover has proven a minor setback for the team’s plans for offroad racing domination, with the Cougar Evo shipped north for frame and shock absorber repairs before its mechanicals get a full strip and crack test.

“Frustrating but not terminal is how I’d put it.  Didn’t need it, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, eh!”

From the crash and the time he spent with nothing to do in the hospital, dennis Andreassend has one serious suggestion for the organisers of race events: before the event, log the GPS co-ordinates of race headquarters and the best helipad or landing area.

“Then if there’s an incident, the chopper can be given the co-ordinates and come straight there.  In the Golden Hour after an injury, every second counts, so where there’s something serious, we should be making sure we are giving the medics the best chance possible of keeping the injured person alive and in good shape.”

Dennis says it’s a small safety matter, one that would not need to be the subject of a remit and can easily be set in place in time for the kick-off of the championship in 2009.

“Borrow a GPS unit, most hunters and keen fishers have them, someone in every club will know how to do this for no cost – and what price do we put on a life or a serious injury?  Hands up everyone who thinks it’s a bad idea to do this kind of preparation before an event!”

Mark Baker