Ben Grice has revealed he was knocked out and suffered for weeks with concussion after a massive crash in the National Trans Am Series season-opener.
The son of two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Allan Grice was hit from behind after his Ford Mustang suddenly slowed due to a mechanical failure.
A component between the engine and the rear wheels broke, causing his car to lose power.
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2023 SpeedSeries. All the action streaming ad free, live and on demand
Just seconds after he slowed and pulled to the side of the Symmons Plains circuit, James Simpson slammed his Dodge Challenger into the back of the almost stationary car – unsighted by another competitor in front of him.
Trans Am racer walks away from scary flip
Grice had been leading the race ahead of James Moffat, whose father Allan Moffat raced Grice Sr. in the heyday of Australian touring car racing throughout the 1970s and ’80s.
“A lot of the other cars saw me, missed me, and I felt like I still had a little bit of driver or was diagnosing the problem until I felt I was trapped,” said Grice.
“I got hit, pretty much run over and hit in the driver’s seat, in the back of the head – it was pretty ordinary.
READ MORE: Fan dobs in ‘pretty poor’ Dragons act after loss
READ MORE: ‘Never in my life’: Tennis star fumes at ‘disappointing’ act
READ MORE: Rugby raid goes nuclear with star, coach in sight
“It was like a bomb going off. I felt like I was sitting on top of a grenade or something, ears ringing, everything goes white and dizzy.
“I had a little bit of a nap there for a while. It was like trying to get out of bed when your alarm is going off. It was a bit tough to get up, to wake up from that.
“There was a paramedic, he led me into the back of an ambulance and sat down there still in shock. I’m not sure whether I passed out again or not, but it was ordinary.”
In the days after the incident, Grice began to feel uneasy.
He soon realised he was experiencing concussion symptoms.
“I felt okay the Sunday and then the Tuesday it really hit me,” Grice explained.
“I was a bit confused and getting lost and couldn’t drive home, then worked out I had pretty reasonable concussion.
“It took a few weeks in a dark room to get over it and it was a pretty ordinary time.”
Former Supercars driver Greg Crick got Grice into a rehabilitation centre, knowing he needed to be fit for the rest of the season.
Now, Grice will return to the SpeedSeries program at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on May 12-14 for round two.
Having missed the final race of the weekend at Symmons Plains, Grice is playing catch up after James Moffat swept all three of the races in February.
Grice will return to the series with an all-new chassis after the car that he wrecked in Tasmania was written off.
Trans Am will form part of a blockbuster card at the Victorian circuit, which is headlined by the TCR Australia Series.
GT World Challenge Australia and the V8 Touring Car Series both boast grids of 20-plus cars.
The V8-powered S5000 single seaters as well as production cars and GT4 will also feature.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Sons-of-speed: The second and third-generation racers following in the footsteps of Australia’s legends
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
