Declan Carberry set for Australian Superbike return after recovering from Mallala crash

WRITTEN BY REBECCA BOWDIDGE

South Australian Superbike racer Declan Carberry has been declared medically fit for activity, three months after he was seriously injured in a crash at Mallala Motorsport Park.

He announced his medical clearance in a recent email to his sponsors and will return to the track this month in preparation for the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship, to be held at The Bend in November.

The crash happened in May, during a morning qualifying session at round three of the South Australian Road Race Championships, where Declan was competing on his BMW S1000RR.

He was approaching turn seven at speeds of over 200km/h when a mechanical malfunction caused the BMW to lose all braking capability.

Declan, 19, described the brake failure as one of the craziest moments of his life.

“I was like, oh no, there’s the tyre wall in front of me, and I’ve got fifty metres to choose if I can slow this bike down or if I’m jumping,” he said.

As a result of the high-speed impact, the bike tumbled beyond the gravel trap and landed on a nearby tyre wall.

“I sat there just letting the adrenaline wear off, and then I started panning around the ground trying to find my bike, and I was like, I cannot see my bike anywhere,” Declan said.

Paramedics transported Declan to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he was treated for multiple breaks in his thoracic spine, and a lacerated spleen.

Thoracic spinal cord injuries are uncommon, at a rate of 10-15% of all spinal cord injuries.

Declan’s mother Kellie Carberry had just arrived at Mallala Motorsport Park and was in the pit garages at the time of the crash.

“I heard on someone’s radio that there was a red flag,” she said.

Kellie realised that her son was involved when she saw his friends running from Mallala’s spectator hill, where they had been watching Declan ride. 

“You look around the pits, and when you see certain people move, you know that it’s got something to do with you,” she said.

He returned to his gym in Victor Harbor four weeks after his hospital stay, doing gentle exercises and cardio, before reintegrating strength training in the following weeks with the support of his personal trainer.

The crash at Mallala is one of several that have resulted in significant injury in Declan’s career, with crashes in 2018 and 2021 seeing him airlifted to hospital.

Kellie described the emotional difficulty of supporting her only child’s return to participation in an extreme sport after injury.

“We (his parents) back him 110%, but as a mum, your heart kind of stops when he first throws that leg back over and gets out on that track,” she said.

“You don’t relax until he comes in from that first session and goes, ‘that was awesome’.

“As soon as I see that smile I think okay, he’s comfy, he’s happy, and then I can walk off and have a cry.” 

The event at Mallala was sanctioned by Motorcycling South Australia, who are the governing body for all motorcycling sports in South Australia.

According to their policy, a medical suspension is applied to any rider who attends hospital as a result of injury sustained during an MSA permitted event, and a medical clearance is required to return to motorcycling activity.

At the time of writing, MSA could not be reached for comment.