OXFORD Cheetahs skipper Steve Schofield boosted his world longtrack/grasstrack hopes by finishing fourth in the first round in Holland on Saturday.

But five-times champion, the former Oxford favourite Simon Wigg, is out of the championship following a horror crash.

Speaking from his hospital bed in Holland, Wigg said: "My throttle jammed wide open three-quarters of the way down the back straight as I led my third race.

"I tried to get round the bend but realised I wasn't going to make it and had to jump off the bike and demolished some of the safety fencing.

"I broke my right collar bone, two ribs and have shoulder ligament damage. My bike bounced back into the path of Kelvin Tatum, who, luckily, was unhurt when he fell.

"I was angry that there wasn't an ambulance at the track and had to wait 30 minutes before one appeared."

Wigg was due to be the star attraction at the forthcoming big grasstrack meeting at Dalton Barracks, but now misses out.

Tatum won the meeting with Toni Svab runner-up, Robert Barth third and Schofield fourth.

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