As racing fans, most of us know the feelings that come with seeing a racer seriously injured. Whether you read about it on the net, in a print mag, or you’re actually standing there watching the helicopter take off with the rider on board, we all feel the same. We all wish we could do something to help the injured rider, and we wonder how many more times we will witness this same scene.
Well, there is something you can do to help. Some of you may already be aware of the existence of the Roadracing World Action Fund. Created by Roadracing World’s editor/owner, John Ulrich, the Action Fund provided the first sections of Airfence ever used in AMA roadracing, and was the main reason the AMA adopted the use of Airfence in the first place.
What is Airfence? It’s kind of like a giant, pre-inflated airbag that is placed in front of solid obstacles that a crashing roadracer might come into contact with. When the racer hits the Airfence, it deflates slowly to absorb and cushion the impact, reducing the forces suffered by the rider.
The Action Fund didn’t stop with the AMA – they are now working on providing Airfence for WERA, CCS, and Formula USA roadracing, as well as for dirt-track racing events. In addition, the Action Fund provides training and demonstrations of how to deploy Airfence properly – preaching that Airfence deployments should be proactive (that is, determining any and all hard barriers that a racer could possibly contact, and protecting them with Airfence, before the first racebike turns a wheel on the track) rather than reactive (protecting a barrier only after a rider has crashed into it).
Your contribution can help the Action Fund with its mission – reducing the number of racers who are injured by collisions with hard objects when crashing. Click here to visit the Action Fund website, and then click on “Contribute” on the left-side navigation menu.
