Frustrated Jeff Smith facing long road to recovery

Jeff Smith admits that he has been left frustrated by the nature of the injuries he sustained in the multi-car accident at Croft prior to the BTCC’s summer break.

Like rival Luke Davenport, the Eurotech Racing boss was left with multiple serious injuries following the accident and spent a lengthy spell in hospital before being released to begin his long road to recovery.

Smith continues to struggle without the use of his left arm as a result of nerve damage, with doctors unable to provide a timescale of when he will make a full recovery.

And it is that fact that the 51-year-old admits is currently proving to be a source of frustration.

“ I am currently reading what NeuropathyCure.org wrote about natural treatments as the medication I am taking right now makes me feel a bit battered and drugged up but on the positive side, it is managing to keep the pain away a bit at the moment.,” he told TouringCarTimes at Snetterton.

“There is a lot of damage to the nerves in my left arm and the shoulder is also struggling to stay in joint, but I need to build the muscles up to sort that and can’t until the nerve damage is sorted.

“The doctors aren’t able to provide a time for me to recover from the nerve damage as everyone is different and it could be a matter of weeks, months or possibly even longer. It’s frustrating because I go to the doctor and get told I’m progressing, but what I really want is for them to just say they can book me in for an operation and it will all be sorted.

“Unfortunately, that isn’t something they can do with this kind of injury, so I just have to live with it and try to be patient.”

Reflecting on what happened in North Yorkshire nearly eight weeks ago, Smith revealed that he could remember most of what had happened on track during the ill-fated qualifying session that saw a dozen drivers skate off on a combination of water and oil at one of the quickest parts of the circuit.

“I can remember every damn bit of what happened as I was conscious until the moment they decided to cut me out of the car and gave me ketamine – which sent me away with the fairies!” he said. “I couldn’t see much in the conditions with the spray and coming into Barcroft I put the normal lock on and nothing happened. I went the other way and nothing happened, then went back the other way and suddenly saw Luke’s car.

“I jumped on the brakes but there was no response and I just ploughed into him at around 120mph. When the car came to a stop, as a driver the first thought is to get out so I gathered my thoughts for a few seconds and was just about to start undoing my seat belts when Aron came ploughing in. It’s just as well that I hadn’t started to get out…

“It was by far the biggest shunt I’ve been involved in and while there was oil and water on the circuit, I don’t think the accident should have happened – there shouldn’t have been a dozen cars involved in a qualifying accident. There was a faint yellow flag at the Esses but a dozen of us didn’t see it. It’s lucky that the car stood up so well and I think the new seat that was made mandatory this year – and which we have already run for a few years – played a role. Had the car not been built so well, I might not be talking to you now.”

For those watching on trackside, or live at home on ITV’s qualifying stream, the seriousness of the incident was immediately clear, with the session being halted whilst Smith, Davenport and Aron Taylor-Smith were attended to by medics at the scene before being cut from their damaged cars.

It meant an agonising wait for the team back in the garage to discover the condition that Smith was in.

“The radio went dead straight away so Jeff wasn’t talking to us,” Smith’s partner Jo Polley, herself a racer in the MINI Challenge, said. “At that point, I knew he’d either been knocked out or something bad had happened as it isn’t good when Jeff isn’t talking.

“The first instinct is that you want to get to the scene but you can’t, and standing in the garage I felt sick because it was clear as time went on that he was hurt. Because I’m a driver myself, I might be a bit more prepared for something like that happening as you are aware of the risks that are involved, but it wasn’t a nice feeling.”

It was a similar story for Smith’s son Brett, who found himself nearly 200 miles away at Silverstone trying to follow the session after qualifying for his latest MINI Challenge outing.

“We’d had our qualifying session about an hour earlier and I was trying to follow what was happening on 4G at the track,” he said. “When I saw the session had been stopped, you start counting the cars coming back to the pits on TSL. When it was clear that Smith, Taylor-Smith and Davenport hadn’t come back, that was when I thought it was bad as you don’t expect three cars to be missing.

“I didn’t catch the video of it happening and to be honest, I don’t want to either. It was scary at first not knowing what was happening but Jo and Sandra [Humphries, wife of team manager Marvin] kept me informed of what was going on.

“It was difficult to have to race on Sunday but at least by then, I knew dad was stable in hospital. I did the races but then it all just hit me and I broke down in tears – but I think dad was proud of me for the fact that I carried on.”

Having spent time in an induced coma at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, it would be a further ten days before Smith was released to go home – and even then he would find himself back in hospital for a further three days.

It would prove to be a challenging period for both Smith and those around him, although support from the BTCC community would provide an undoubted boost.

“The response that there was really blew us away,” Polley continued. “From that first day, my phone just exploded with messages and it was the same with Jeff’s which I also had. I think someone from every team got in touch and then there were messages from fans on social media that I was able to read to Jeff and it kept him going in hospital.

“There’s no doubting that it’s been tough and it has blown our world apart to an extent. Jeff’s been unable to work because of the fact he can’t use his left arm, and I can’t work as I’ve had to help him with things that he can’t do. You don’t realise how much you need something until you can’t use it so it’s been difficult, but he is on the mend; the progress is just slow.

“Although he’s been a good patient, he’s also a bit of a nightmare because he wants to be out there in the car. In a way, it’s good that Brett has been able to take over behind the wheel because it’s given him something to focus on, and it’s also like a part of him is still out on track.”

The decision to put 25-year-old Smith Jr into the car came roughly three weeks after the accident at Croft, when his father had finally been released from hospital.

So far, it’s a decision that the Brands Hatch pole-sitter feels has been the right one.

“There were people we’d been interested in and who we’d spoken to previously, but when we looked at what people could bring to the table, I felt it was the right time to give Brett a chance,” Smith said. “Others in the team agreed as he has really come on as a driver and is as capable as anyone else of getting in the car and doing a good job.

“With my team boss hat on, I think he has done as well as you would expect for someone getting in the car for the first time. People think you have been quick in something else so you’ll be quick in a BTCC car but that isn’t the case. There is a lot more than comes with being in British Touring Cars, but he has done really well.

“As a father, I’m proud as punch at the way in which he has stepped into the car and got on with it. It hasn’t taken long to get up to speed and the hope is that he can wrap up the MINI Challenge title and also do a good job in the Honda; there is no reason why he can’t.”

For Brett himself, the chance to take over from his dad’s car is something that wasn’t expected – and is something he hopes won’t be a permanent move.

“I was aware I was in the running to drive the car, and I was happy that dad and the team felt I was up to the job,” he said. “At the same time though, it isn’t the ideal way in which to get my chance to race in the BTCC as I really wanted it to be me alongside my dad and Jack [Goff].

“Obviously that’s not the way it is because of what happened, but hopefully it can be in the future.”