Former works Kawasaki British Superbike rider Tim Bourne walked away from this crash at Brands Hatch over the Easter Weekend with just minor injuries and is planning a return to racing sooner rather than later.

Bourne, who was team-mate to John Reynolds in the early 1990s, was a wildcard in the opening round of the 2009 British Superbike Championship, stepping back up to the big class one last time after spending the last few years in MRO Powerbikes. .

The Kent man crashed at high speed in the qualifying session at Graham Hill Bend which saw him roll and get trapped underneath the bike more than once, before they both came to a stop causing the practice session to be red flagged – while former team boss Colin Wright looked on from behind the paddock fencing, clearly concerned.

The spill hasn’t phased Bourne, or dampened his sense of humour. “My injuries are mainly very bad bruising, a large haematoma on my hip and it feels like a rib and index finger are broken but haven't had it checked as they normally don't do anything. I think I am more black than Michael Jackson is nowadays,” he joked.

The exact reason for the crash is not known, he said: “I had done an out lap, then a 58s lap and was doing a third bed in lap on new tyres, the rear of which was the new soft 0. Apart from one other, we were the only Superbike team in the main paddock and I knew I would lose heat coming into the GP paddock and out onto track.

“I have been told the rear span up and another thought I hit the white line. All I do know is that I am extremely lucky having seen the sequence of pictures taken by Bonnie Lane. I have been sent a Save The Bike, sticker but I didn’t get under it by choice!”
 
Bourne returned to the Superbike class after 17 years and even though the outcome wasn’t quite as expected, the opportunity was not completely ruined for him.  He said:  “I enjoyed my one-off return to BSB, crash apart! I was second in the wet, third free practice, to Sylvain Guintoli. Not everybody was out but being quicker than Plater, De Costa, Watanabe Kirkham and others, was very rewarding.

“Probably the worst thing from the weekend was my 12-year-old son not being able to find out what had happened when I crashed. He was with a friend at Druids when it happened and ran back to the lorry.

“The big difference between what I am riding now was the way the electronics allowed the bikes to rocket out of Clearways and Graham Hill. Amazing!  BSB is so well run these days and MSVR under Stuart Higgs and his team deserve a lot of credit for giving us the leading National Superbike series in the world.”

Due to his injuries, Bourne has already had to miss one round of the MRO Powerbikes category which took place at Brands the following weekend and currently doesn’t know when he will return to two wheels, but is in no doubt over how fortunate he was.