Nigel turns corner after crash

Miraculously, given the violence of his Goodwood accident on 17 September, Nigel Corner was released from St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester less than a fortnight later, and is recuperating at home in North Yorkshire.

Despite suffering a catalogue of injuries which would deter anybody of lesser constitution, Nigel has vowed to race the ex-Phil Hill 1960 Italian Grand Prix-winning Ferrari Dino again. Corner broke 12 ribs, a shoulder in three places and a collar bone in the shunt, which also punctured both lungs, took 30 inches of skin and tare the cruciate ligament in one knee almost certainly as he was thrown out of the rolling car.

“The list is endless, but I’m alive, which is all that matters. The accident was just one of those things, but somebody up there was smiling down on me.

“I’d like to thank the marvellous people at Goodwood and the hospital, who certainly saved my life. All I remember was being picked up off the grass [at the side of the track] in agony, then waking up in intensive care eight hours later. They did a fan tastic job there, because

the lungs nearly finished me off. I’m a very lucky boy, and while I’ve been told I can’t drive or fly for three months, I’ll be back.”

The car stood up remarkably well, the major damage being to the top of the scuttle area. “Those old Ferraris are bloody strong, but if I’d been belted in I’d be a dead man now,” said Corner. “If you have a rollover bar, you’re probably better off wearing belts, but it’s down to personal choice. The day we’re made to put a rollcage on that type of car is the day I stop racing them.” MP