Vince Whittle found himself at the centre of worldwide media attention following his explosive demise from the fourth round of the THINK! British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

The Reading racer was involved in a tangle on the warm-up lap prior to the start of the first race which saw his Thunderchild Racing Ducati explode in a massive fireball and spin wildly down the middle of the circuit, ramming into the Suzuki of Adam Hitchcox before coming to rest, some 150 yards further on, at Ldoge Corner.

The incident was captured 'live' by the Sky Television pictures, and subsequently the amazing pictures were broadcast on the national terrestrial news programmes across Britain, with follow up stories on various local news programmes, and then via television as far afield as Australia on their Channel 7 news programme.

The crash was also pictured by photographer Tim Keaton of Raymond Agency, and the remarkable series of images he obtained were used by the majority of the National newspapers: the Daily Telegraph, for example, led the front page of its sports section and the Sun, having 'flashed' the crash alongside its masthead, devoted its centre spread to a highly colourful, graphic picture.

Unwittingly, Whittle, uninjured apart from a bruising, as were the other riders involved in the incident, found himself at the centre of a growing audience, reckoned by some to be in excess of 20 million ........

His season was probably wrecked by the crash, and the aftermath of the fuel tank splitting on impact and causing the fireball - perhaps someone watching, or reading, of his demise might find some cash to put him back on track, and hitting the headlines for his racing performances.

ends