A motorbike champion who was seriously injured in a horror 100mph crash two years ago has won his first comeback race.
Dave Holden, of Lynfield Road, Great Harwood, crashed into hay bales on Beeches Bend at the Aintree racing circuit in 2009.
He was treated in intensive care after breaking his hip, shoulder, ribs, a small vertebrae in his back and puncturing both his lungs.
Sidecar partner Rob Coward, of Blackburn, also broke a wrist and suffered foot injuries at the Merseyside track. After a two-year recovery, Dave and Rob competed on the same track using the same rebuilt bike and won the opening round of the Ace of Aintree Championships.
Recalling the crash, Dave, 64, said: “I was coming up to pass somebody and as I was going they moved right in front of me.
“I ended up going on to the grass and through hedges and suffered really bad injuries.
“I was still on crutches until about four months ago.”
Dave, a self-employed heating and plumbing engineer, began racing in 1978 and is a multiple sidecar champion, winning the Ace of Aintree championship 10 times.
Since he has not competed in a race since 2009, Dave said he was confident to get back on the bike but did not expect to win.
Crossing the finishing line, Dave and Rob received a standing ovation from the track marshalls.
He said: “It was like we had never been away”.
