Lange injured, Antunez will ride
by Roddy MacLeod
11 June 2004
Richmond Racing's Darcy Lange, winner of the 2004 AMA Arenacross series, was injured yesterday while riding for promotional purposes for the upcoming Nanaimo CMRC national event on Vancouver Island.
RichmondRacing.ca's Darcy Lange
Apparently Lange was somehow torn off his bike by a finish line banner which was being installed on the track by track officials and injured his thumb. Lange still plans to race this weekend.
In a surprise move, the team has decided to suit up their riding coach, Buddy Antunez, to ride the 250 class for the rest of the nationals. Antunez retired from racing this year at the conclusion of the AMA Arenacross series.
Here's the official release from Richmond:
Late Breaking Richmond News!!!!!!!
Friday, June 10, 2004
By: Dan Currie
For everybody who hasn’t been under a rock for the last 24 hours, most of you know that Darcy Lange crashed today during a press day at the Nanaimo facility. At first it was thought that Lange’s thumb was broken but we received great news Friday night (Thursday night? Ed.) that Darcy’s thumb was indeed not broken and he will be ready to go for this weekend.
Over the next two days, Lange will undergo extensive physio-therapy on his thumb in hopes that it will improve the injury as best it possibly can. Lange and the team are still expecting great things for the 2004 season and hopefully everything goes well this weekend and Darcy comes out swinging in the first 250 pro moto.
Due to the crash, Richmond made a last minute decision to sign the teams riding coach Buddy Antunez to contest the 2004 Canadian Nationals. The decision was not based upon fear of Darcy not being able to ride at his best ability; we just feel it’s a wise decision to have another 250 rider on the team.
Buddy will focus solely on the 250 class this summer and expects great things in his Canadian debut. Antunez, who is known for his intense training regimen, will be a force to be reckoned with as he will only get stronger as the moto's wear on.
We, the Richmond Racing team, are expecting great things this weekend and look forward to seeing all the familiar faces as round one of the Canadian Nationals kicks off this weekend in Nanaimo. We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend, and wish our competitors the best of luck, thank you.
