Speedway world mourning

PASSION FOR SPEEDWAY: Andrew Edwards (72) leads Mark Edwards (71) during the North Island Minisprints Championship at Kihikihi.

Freak accident robs sport of rising star - family of son, brother

By Grant Johnston and Colin Thorsen

The speedway fraternity is in a state of shock after a tragic accident at Baypark Speedway last week resulted in fatal injuries being suffered by rising star, Andrew Edwards.

Andrew (19) was competing in the Sprint Car feature race on New Year’s Day when his car flipped entering a turn, then crashed into a wall.

This time last year the young Te Awamutu speedway tyro featured in the Courier with his father - Kihikihi speedway stalwart, Mark Edwards. The pair had just finished second and third in the New Zealand Minisprint Championships and it appeared the ‘speedway world was their oyster’.

ANDREW EDWARDS made a rapid rise through minisprint ranks last year. File photo

Long time Kihikihi Speedway committee man Terry Campbell had tears in his eyes as he spoke to the Courier about the Edwards’ tragic loss. Mr Campbell, who has been a friend of the family for 25 years, said Andrew was “an absolute natural”.

“He frustrated his father at times because he couldn’t give any feedback on changes that might be needed to improve a car - basically because he drove around any problem the car had and got the best out of it - a rare ability in a speedway driver,” Mr campbell said. “In both minisprints, and latterly in the more powerful V8 sprint cars, Andrew continually demonstrated his talent for rapidly moving through a competitive field and passing cars to lead a race. After only half a dozen outings in the sprint car, he was showing a ‘clean pair of heels’ to older drivers with decades of experience. In his last two meetings, in the very competitive environment of Baypark Speedway, Andrew was one of the drivers to beat - an astonishing debut for a young driver with his level of experience.”

Mr Campbell said Mark Edwards and his sons, Andrew and (younger brother) Brian, had over the past two seasons placed in every North Island, regional or national minisprint event - with two often placing in the top three and at times all three.

"Any man who saw Mark interacting with his two boys at speedway would have been envious. They had a fantastic rapport, they were just great friends having fun together and enjoying themselves.”

Grant Graham, president of Kihikihi Speedway Club and director of Speedway NZ, said it was a huge loss for the club and speedway as whole.

“Andrew was one of the outstanding prospects to come through our club. The Edwards family are very dedicated, successful and highly respected and all our thoughts are with them,” Mr Graham says. “There has been absolutely outstanding support for the family from the speedway fraternity, both within New Zealand and from overseas.”

After suffering head injuries in the Baypark crash, Andrew was transported to Tauranga Hospital and then transferred to Waikato Hospital’s intensive care unit but never recovered. The loss of a son and brother is an incredible blow for any family - to have it happen in the family’s favourite past-time, which has given them countless hours of pleasure, can only have added to what must already seem to be insurmountable grief.