A MOTORBIKE racer has claimed first place in a comeback ride almost two years after he was seriously injured in a horror crash.

Multiple sidecar champion Dave Holden, 64, of Great Harwood, was treated in intensive care after breaking his shoulder, hip, four ribs, a small bone in his back and puncturing both lungs at Aintree racing circuit, Merseyside, in June 2009.

His sidecar partner Rob Coward, of Sunnybower, Blackburn, broke his left wrist and injured his foot in the 100mph smash into a hay bale on Beeches Bend.

But last week, on the same track, using the same bike, both Dave and Rob donned their helmets and won the opening round of the Ace of Aintree championship.

Dave, a heating and plumbing engineer, said he had been confident, despite only coming off crutches four months ago.

He said: “I’ve been too ill to ride for the most part of two years and only came off crutches in January after an operation on my pelvis.”

He added: “I don’t think either me or Rob were nervous about returning, but Rob’s wife was. We qualified on pole position for the final and I was confident that we’d be the winners.”

As they crossed the finishing line, the track marshalls gave the pair a standing ovation.

Dave added: “They all clapped and cheered us, which was very nice.

“We’re like a family in the racing world though, and I know a lot of people, having been competing since 1978.”

The bike used by Dave and Rob has been completely rebuilt since the crash, and was put to the test again yesterday when Dave and his sidecar passenger Heath Fairbrother took part in the annual Hoghton Tower Sprint.

They claimed the top spot covering the eighth-of-a-mile drag run in less than nine seconds.