7:54am Saturday 29th March 2008
By Anthony Marshall
THEO Pijper is facing up to a month on the sidelines following his horror crash in the Craven Shield victory over Poole Pirates on Thursday.
Pijper suffered concussion, a clean break of his collarbone and a dislocated thumb - which has since been re-set - when his back wheel was clipped by Poole's Adam Skornicki during the final lap of heat 11.
The Dutchman was flipped over his handlebars and went crashing into the air fence, where he lay motionless and didn't come to until in an ambulance on his way to Great Western Hospital.
The 28-year-old was expected to be released last night, but Robins fans won't see him in action again until the beginning of May.
Pijper has made an inconsistent start to his Blunsdon career, but on Thursday showed glimpses of the form which convinced Terry Russell and Gary Patchett to sign him up during the winter.
And Robins manager Alun Rossiter believes he will come back stronger as a result of the crash.
Rossiter revealed: "Hopefully we'll deal with Swindon Town and get Theo down there for some physio and laser treatment on his shoulder to aid his recovery.
"It's always disappointing when one of your riders gets injured, but even more so with Theo because he got stuck in in that race.
"He'd been struggling until then but seemed to have turned the corner and then this happened.
"Skornicki just caught him a bit too hard, but he's not a dirty rider.
"Theo was out cold and struggling to breathe and it's not nice to see one of your riders like that.
"The collarbone is one of the weakest bones in your body - I know, I've suffered a few breaks in my time.
"But speedway riders are made of steel, and Theo will be back and stronger than ever."
Rossiter has lined up Cory Gathercole to replace Pijper for the Elite League opener at home to Belle Vue on Thursday, but the Isle of Wight man's Premier League commitments mean the Robins manager will need a new rider for the clash with Lakeside next Friday.
"Cory will be riding on Thursday, but can't do Lakeside on Friday because he's riding for the Isle of Wight at Somerset," Rosco admitted. "I've got no-one lined up yet and will just have to see who's available."
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