WEYMOUTH WILDCATS 39 NEWPORT HORNETS 52

WILDCAT Byron Bekker suffered a suspected broken collarbone in a sickening smash during last night’s National League defeat by the Newport Hornets.

Bekker careered into the perimeter fence after becoming entangled with Tony Atkin in heat 10 and required extensive medical treatment from paramedics, which resulted in a 50-minute delay.

The South-African speedster was then transported to hospital by ambulance as Weymouth slumped to a 52-39 reversal against the table-toppers.

James Cockle (11+1) starred but otherwise it was a lacklustre performance by the hosts, whose three-match National League winning streak at the Wessex Raceway came to an abrupt end.

Wildcats’ chairman and promoter Phil Bartlett was disappointed to have overseen a loss and expressed his concern for Bekker, whose season could now be over.

Bartlett told Echosport: “We’ll have to wait for confirmation from the hospital but Byron has broken his collarbone before and thinks he’s done it again.

“He was on fire but unfortunately he came off worse in the collision. It could be the end of his season but we will have to wait and see how bad the injury is first. We’ve been dogged by injuries in virtually every single league meeting this season and just when you thought we were coming back strong, it’s happened again.”

The Wildcats travel to the Buxton Hitmen for a league and trophy double-header tomorrow, which leaves Bartlett with precious little time to secure the services of a guest.

He added: “I’ve got a couple of guys in mind but it depends on whether they can do it and whether their parent clubs allow them to ride. If I can’t get anyone in we’ll have to use rider replacement.”

Newport boasted three former Wildcats among their ranks in the form of Kyle Newman, James White-Williams and Luke Priest.

But it was Weymouth who made the brighter start as Bekker overtook Todd Kurtz on lap three of the opening heat to kick off proceedings with a 4-2.

The Hornets bounced back with a maximum in the next as White-Williams reminded Cats’ fans of his quality, and they consolidated their advantage to lead by four points after five heats.

Bekker then chalked up his second race win only for Weymouth to quickly slip to 10 points adrift, whereupon Bartlett invoked the tactical ride facility.

However, the heat was aborted after Bekker and Atkin had tumbled simultaneously into the fence following a horrific collision between the two of them at turn one.

Atkin and Jones had sandwiched Bekker and whereas the Newport captain emerged relatively unscathed, Bekker’s involvement was over.

When the action resumed, reserve rider Gary Cottham (8+1) donned the black-and-white helmet in place of Bekker but trailed home dead last as Newport continued to flex their muscles.

From then on the Hornets were in cruise control and they capped their night with a 3-2 in the final heat, which ended with just two riders after the retirement and disqualification of Tom Brown (6+1) and Newman respectively.