Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By David Swarts
Arclight Suzuki’s Lee Acree suffered second-degree burns after he crashed during Friday practice at Mid-Ohio and a security guard refused to let him re-enter the paddock through the closest gate.
Acree, a contender for the 2002 AMA Superstock Championship, crashed during Friday morning’s Superstock practice session. Relatively uninjured and his GSX-R750 relatively undamaged, Acree wanted to ride his bike back to the pits for quick repairs, hoping to rejoin the session, and a cornerworker obliged by letting the North Carolina rider exit the racetrack through a gate near the crash scene in the “Keyhole”.
Acree rode to another gate at the West end of the paddock, the gate nearest his team’s pit area, to re-enter the paddock, but the security guard stationed at the gate would not let Acree pass, instructing Acree to ride around to a different gate. While Acree tried to get the attention of his crew, within eyesight of him at the gate, Acree’s Suzuki overheated and the radiator overflow spilled boiling hot water onto Acree’s leg, resulting in second-degree burns.
At post time, the Arclight Suzuki team did not know if Acree would be able to ride in Friday afternoon’s Superstock practice or qualifying sessions.