Brodie returns after 30 years to sadness By Donald Duff

Stabroek News
November 4, 2002

Related Links: Articles on car racing
Letters Menu Archival Menu

It was supposed to be a triumphant return. A return to the scene of past victories and of chequered flags but Englishman David Brodie couldn't believe his ill fate.

Nothing like this had ever happened to him in his long and chequered career as a race car driver.

He felt powerless to prevent the oncoming accident which he knew was inevitable.

Brodie recounts: "The throttle was jammed open. There was nothing I could do...The car was enormously quick and going very fast. When I came off the brakes the car did not slow down. With the brakes locked I couldn't steer the car properly. It was only when I was about 100-120 feet away that I realised children were sitting at the back of the mini-bus."

Despite surviving one of the worst accidents in his career, Brodie consented to speak to Stabroek Sports from the home of the British High Commissioner to Guyana Steve Hiscock, where he was recuperating.

"It was just terrible. Such a terrible waste of the two young lives....I am so sorry," he said.

"I just want to say to the families how sorry I am".

Brodie is certainly one of the most experienced race drivers in the world having begun racing at the tender age of 18.

Now 59, and with over 800 races all over the world under his belt Brodie felt confident when the first Group Three race began.

After all, he was no stranger to South Dakota. Indeed on the 30th anniversary of his first visit to Guyana (He was here in November of 1972) he had little reason to feel that he was destined to be involved in a freak accident which was to claim the lives of two little innocent ones.

His first visit to Guyana was memorable. He won five of six races. His latest visit will be unforgettable. The images will remain in his mind for a long, long time.

Asked if he will continue to race again, a distraught Brodie answered..."Well, I will have a long hard look at that. I enjoy racing. I've been doing that nearly all my life. It's certainly something I will have to consider. I would like to meet the families of the victims but I feel it is too soon. But I will contact them when I get to England if I don't get a chance to see them before I leave on Thursday. I will be writing them and hopefully, when I come back to Guyana I will meet them".

And, in an invited comment, High Commissioner Hiscock said he was very, very saddened by the accident and the deaths.