OCTOBER 18, 1999

Watt badly hurt in motorbike crash

FORMULA 1 hopeful Jason Watt is in a critical condition in a hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, following a motorcycle accident while he was doing a photographic shoot for a Danish motorcycle magazine.

FORMULA 1 hopeful Jason Watt is in a critical condition in a hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, following a motorcycle accident while he was doing a photographic shoot for a Danish motorcycle magazine. The circumstances of the accident are unclear but it seems that Watt collided at high speed with the motorcycle which the photographer involved had been riding. This was parked as the photographer prepared to take some shots of Watt in action.

Watt was thrown off the bike and ended up in ditch with severe injuries to his upper body. We understand that his spinal cord has been severed and that he has suffered serious chest injuries and a badly broken arm. It is virtually certain that he will be paralysed from the waist down but doctors are hoping that he will have some movement in his upper body.

The Formula 3000 driver, who won the last two races of the year for Super Nova Racing had been hoping to break into CART next year. The accident is a major blow to the Formula 3000 community, coming just a few weeks after the death of another frontrunner Gonzalo Rodriguez in a CART accident at Laguna Seca. The Uruguayan had been second in the F3000 title race until his death but Watt's victory in the Nurburgring F3000 event gave him runner-up spot in the InternationalÊF3000ÊChampionship.