Tens of thousands of dollars of soft barriers were destroyed in a fiery crash May 27 during the WERA Cycle Jam at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Ilan Bental crashed in Turn Four, the esses section, at Road Atlanta during the 600ccc/C Superstock Expert race. Strong winds then turned a small fire on Bental’s crashed motorcycle into an inferno that burned up a huge section of tire wall, a chain link fence, and many sections of life-saving Airfence Bike soft barriers.

View a video of the scene shot by veteran racer Chuck Ivey here: https://www.facebook.com/1485493885/videos/253560307256536/

While the fire ended the remainder of the day’s activities, Bental was relatively uninjured according to Ivey, the fire was eventually extinguished, and enough repairs were made overnight that WERA was able to resume on-track action the following morning.

The Roadracing World Action Fund (RWAF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping prevent or reduce the severity of racetrack injuries by advocating for and facilitating the use of soft barriers, immediately started a campaign to raise funds to replace the destroyed Airfence sections (which were originally supplied by previous RWAF fund-raisers).

Thanks to ongoing fundraising efforts by PRE Track Days and N2 Track Days, a donation of penalty fines from MotoAmerica, a special fundraiser organized by MotoAmerica Superbike racer Josh Herrin, and individual donations from road racing fans and supporters, the Roadracing World Action Fund has shipped 20 new sections of Airfence Bike worth approximately $56,000 to Road Atlanta, where they have been deployed.

To donate to the Roadracing World Action Fund and help deploy more soft barriers nationwide, please go to https://store.roadracingworld.com/products/donate-to-roadracing-world-action-fund