7:00am Friday 25th April 2008
By Neil Meldrum
PIRATES chief Matt Ford relived Zbigniew Suchecki's horror injury and insisted he would "let the dust settle" before making a decision on how to cover for the stricken Pole.
The Poole Castle Cover reserve sustained a broken femur after getting into trouble in heat two of Pirates' 52-41 Elite League win over Eastbourne on Wednesday and is unlikely to ride again this season.
Eagles reserve James Brundle could not avoid ploughing into Suchecki on the second bend as the Pole battled to get control of his bike on a greasy track.
Suchecki was due to have an operation at Poole Hospital yesterday and Ford, who described the 23-year-old's injury as a "crying shame", insisted he wouldn't make a quick decision when considering replacement riders.
The Castle Cover Pirates supremo told the Echo: "To replace someone like Zibi is going to be extremely difficult. I've got some thoughts and there are a couple of options available to me but I think, for the next couple of weeks, I'm just going to let the dust settle.
"I just want to make sure that I don't make one move now when, potentially, we might need to make more moves in the future.
"The riders are performing well enough and we can bring Jordan Frampton in to cover for Zibi as and when he's available.
"Unfortunately, he's very busy with Somerset at this point in time, but there are one or two other guys we would have a look at if Jordan is not available."
Ford, however, is likely to be wary of replacing Suchecki in haste.
Under new rules, the co-promoter could bring in a full-time replacement for Suckecki as long as the new man's average was below the Pole's 3.65 figure plus five per cent.
But committing to a replacement reserve now would be a massive decision for Ford should he wish to make further changes to the Pirates one-to-seven at a later date.
Ford has already hinted that struggling second string Karol Zabik must drag himself out of his on-track slump or risk being dropped from the team.
A spokesperson for Poole Hospital confirmed last night that Suchecki's injury was "serious", but that the rider was in a "stable" condition.
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