Richardson dies after crash..(Speedway)

Personally Iam gutted not only was he a good man and great rider he was also Lakeside Hammers Captain which is my local team who Ive been to watch them many times.



British Speedway rider Lee Richardson has died following a crash in Poland.


Richardson, 33, was competing for PGE Marma Rzeszow against Betard Sparta Wroclaw when he went into a safety fence.

Polish state broadcaster TVP showed images of his bike flipping and
Richardson being thrown off onto the track, apparently after he had
collided into a safety fence.

TVP said the Lakeside Hammers captain was taken to a hospital in
Wroclaw with severe internal bleeding and other injuries, and that
doctors operated but were unable to save him.

His Sky Sports Elite League club released a statement to confirm the tragic news.
Hastings-born racer Richardson made his speedway debut in 1995 with Reading Racers.

During a hugely successful domestic career he also rode for Poole
Pirates, Peterborough Panthers, King's Lynn Stars, Coventry Bees,
Swindon Robins Eastbourne Eagles and finally with Lakeside.

Individually, Richardson brilliantly took victory in the World Under-21 Championship at Vojens, Denmark on 7 August 1999.

He also rode in the Grand Prix series, he made three wildcard
appearances (British GP 2000 and 2002; European GP 2002), prior to
becoming a regular competitor in 2003. This after stunningly winning the
World Championship Qualifying Round Grand Final at Pi³a, Poland on 25
August 2002, when scoring 14 points to finish ahead of Bohumil Brhel
(12) and Piotr Protasiewicz (11).

Richardson was also a regular for Great Britain in the Speedway World
Cup tournaments and he was his country's all-time highest scorer in the
Speedway World Cup.

Richardson was married to Emma, and has three sons.

"All at the club are devastated at the
loss of a great captain, man and more than anything else a wonderful
father and husband," the statement read.

"Our thoughts are with his family at this most sad of times and we
know that all Hammers fans will share our total devastation at this
tragic news."