KEY POINTS:
A 13-year-old boy was killed in a horror speedway accident in front of hundreds of people last night.
The boy was watching a race when a sprint car driven by Kevin Freeman flipped over a safety fence.
Eyewitnesses say the boy's mum was volunteering as a track official
and was just metres away from the boy when he was killed.
Freeman was believed to have suffered a concussion, and another spectator was believed to be seriously injured in the accident.
It is the third serious motorsport accident this month - and the third in which a young person has died. Jack Thompson, 20, died after the motorcycle sidecar he was in hit a safety barrier at the Pukekohe Park raceway on March 11. And six days later, Luke McCrostie, 18, died during a quad bike race at the Cromwell Speedway.
Bruce Chubb, of St John ambulance service, said the crash happened about 7pm during a race at Renwick's Eastern States Speedway. The boy was taken by ambulance to Wairau Hospital in Blenheim. "He had serious injuries, and he died as a result of that." Police were now investigating.
A fellow speedway driver, who was about 10m from the boy when he was hit, said the boy didn't stand a chance.
"I don't think he saw it... It wasn't very nice to watch. The way the cars bounce, it's gone straight over the top of [the fence. The car] was going at a great rate of knots."
Sprintcars weighed about 600kg, the driver said.
The boy's mother, a speedway official, came running after the crash. "She was in shock, understandably."
The boy had grown up around speedway tracks and was "an absolute nut" about the sport, the driver said. "He was hoping to get his own car in the future."
The boy often came to watch races and usually sat in the same spot, a viewing area used by drivers and officials, close to the fence.
The man said he also saw a man hit by flying debris. That man was put into an ambulance.
"It was an absolute freak accident."
George Gibbs, a photographer who watched the car cartwheel 40m down the track, said the cars were about one third of the way through the race and going "very fast" - between 70 and 100km/h - when Freeman lost control. "[Freeman], at the start of the straight, came out of the corner, put his foot down and went to go past [other] cars - but the middle one also pulled out to the right to pass, right at the same time. One of those split-second things... He had nowhere to go and ran over the back wheel and that sent him flying."
The driver was still in the car when it slammed into the concrete pole. The front wheels were caught in the safety fence and Gibbs thought the back had flipped over onto the boy.
"I did see [the boy] lying on the ground and it didn't look good - and I have been an ambulance officer - it didn't look good."
Wendy Coutts, president of Speedway New Zealand, was last night struggling to control her emotions with the tragedy hitting her home town track - and killing the young son of a close friend.
"It's very hard for me because it's a friend of the family. I've known the boy since he was born, his mother is a good friend. It's very tough when I have to come and stand here with everybody and control the area and have no emotions. It's a tough night.
"There's a lot of people that are really feeling it. It's a small town and a well known speedway-supporting family. It's very sad. We are really trying to work with our volunteers and people here. Everyone is feeling it. It's awful when it's a child, a family member and speedway is all about family."
The race meeting was cancelled after officials realised the seriousness of the crash. It was to have been the last night of the season, and had attracted a larger-than-usual crowd.
She said Freeman was believed to be in a stable condition. "He did get out of the car a bit concussed. He did get out of the car on his own."
Large numbers of Victim Support staff had arrived to help the volunteers that made the race meeting possible. Coutts was dealing with the accident at the track - and then was heading to comfort the boy's mother.
Speedway New Zealand rejected links between the three motorsport deaths this month. Josh Cleaver, chief executive of Speedway New Zealand said the body had invested heavily in healthy, safety and risk management.
He won support last from transport safety minister Harry Duynhoven, a motorsport enthusiast. He said the sport had made huge investments in safety - although some improvements had been met by greater engine power and speed on the tracks.
"It's always been a sport of thrills and spills and what you have from time to time are tragic accidents. It's part of the risk. Most of the people taking part are aware of the risk and take part knowing what the risk is.
"I really feel for the driver. He must be gutted. And I feel also for the family of the boy involved."
