FORMER Oxford Cheetahs' star Martin Dugard has been charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of speedway after his outrageous non-racing clash with his former Eastbourne teammate Stefan Andersson.

Dugard was watched by thousands of Sky viewers as he flattened Andersson after being involved in a spectacular but horrific crash in heat ten of the Eagles' clash against King's Lynn.

Speedway control board co-ordinator Graham Brodie said: "There is nothing more for me to say on the matter right now, but the issue will be discussed at the next board meeting in terms of where we go from here. We are doing things as quickly as possible."

Dugard, who sustained a fractured pelvis, two cracked ribs, head injuries and a dislocated thumb from the crash, said: "I have disgraced myself, Eastbourne and the sport.

"I didn't mean to hit Stefan and I have apologised to him. I don't think any further action should be taken against me as I have already lost £2,000 in bike damage and loss of earnings. I will be out of action for the rest of the season anyway with my injuries, whatever action the SCB decide to take." A shocked Andersson admitted he still couldn't understand why Dugard acted the way he did.

He said: "I am still stunned at what happened. I never caused the crash, it was just a racing incident and we were both out of control.

"He should never have hit me and I am in a dilemma. I am only on loan to King's Lynn, and Eastbourne own my contract."

Andersson was forced to withdraw from the Swedish Championships because of his injuries which included double vision and headaches. It appears that Andersson struck his head on his tool box when falling. Luckily it was plastic, had it been metal, it doesn't take much to imagine the outcome.

Fisticuffs, or handbags at ten paces as they like to put it, goes on a lot in the sport, but most of the time the riders are still wearing helmets.

This was different and should be judged so by the Speedway Control Board.

I would imagine, however, that Sky are delighted. It will have done wonders for their viewing figures which are already on the up. In fact, speedway attracts the second highest live summer audience on Sky Sports.

Story date: Thursday 09 September

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.