Big Interview: Motorbike race ace Alfie Davidson overcomes horror crash to compete once again

Shocked, bewildered and in excruciating pain, the promising motorbike racer was facing the very real prospect of a life-changing condition at the tender age of 13-years-old.

A crash at a practice track in Cumbria saw the youngster get airlifted to Alder Hey Hospital, in Liverpool, where he was diagnosed with a broken femur and compound fracture of his tibia.

He underwent surgery to have his thigh bone pinned to a metal plate while his shin bone was placed in a cage.

You would imagine the youngster was feeling slightly sorry for himself as he digested the true extent of the accident.

Certainly his worried parents John and Laura were thinking that his burgeoning racing career was over before it had barely begun.

But as far as Davidson was concerned there was never any thought in his mind that the high-speed crash had ended his ambitions in the sport.

Despite facing six-months with the cage followed by six weeks in a pot, hours and hours of physiopherapy and doctors’ appointments, Davidson was always motivated by the hope that one day he would be back on two wheels in a competitive environment.

The serious collision occurred in March of last year but remarkably just over 12 months later, he is preparing for the opening race of the Honda British Superbikes Talent Cup at the iconic Silverstone track later this month.

Davidson’s determination is fuelled by the fact that the accident was due to a mechanical failure rather than rider error.

"It was mechanical failure on my front brake,” he said. “The bolt snapped and the lever came off in my hand.

"I just went to undertake somebody and I went to pull my brake and it snapped.

"Before I knew what had happened I had hit the barriers at around 60mph."

His father John added: “Myself and his mum watched it happen. It wasn’t the nicest thing to watch although it didn’t look too bad at first because he appeared to just slide off.

"But he went feet first which was the problem. He broke his femur and tibia which broke through the skin that’s why he was airlifted.

"But just an hour after he had had his operation, he turned to me and said, ‘I am not stopping racing dad!’

"He said the accident was nobody’s fault. I said, ‘Okay then’.

Last year was supposed to be his first season racing on the prestigious Talent Cup circuit but the accident means his progress has been delayed a year.

"It was only a small track where the accident happened,” said Davidson, who is now 14-years-old and attends Wellfield High School, in Yewlands Drive, Leyland.

"We were just getting some practice in before the season started but the season ended before it begun.”

Fortunately, this year the speedster has been signed by Pete Banks, who owns Banks Racing.

He will be providing valuable support through the course of this year.

"He went out on his race bike last month just to get a bit of confidence,” his father added.

"We went to a track in Anglesey and you could see little glimpses of how he used to be.

"They held a little race meeting and in the final race he came third or fourth I think and everything was just clicking back into place.

"Last weekend we went to the British Superbikes testing weekend at Snetterton and he went four seconds quicker than last year before his accident.”

This year is all about regaining his confidence in a race environment and his expectation levels in terms of results will not be too high, although that is not to say he won’t be entering every race with a steely competitive edge.

"I am not putting too much expectation on myself this year,” said Davidson. “The plan is ride and enjoy it really.

"It’s about learning about all the different tracks because obviously I missed out on that last year.”

His father added: “It’s just a case of gathering date and Alfie learning this year.

"There’s going to be no big expectations, it’s just a case of him enjoying himself.

"Probably next year is when we will have bigger expectations.”

The long-term goal of Davidson is to ride on the British Superbikes Championship and who knows maybe the world stage.

“My heart is set on riding the bigger bikes,” he said.

His dad added: “If everything works out we might get there with a little bit of help from sponsors.”

If you would like to sponsor Davidson or follow his results then you can get in contact with him via his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alfiedavidsonracing