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Rally driver marks 20 years since the crash that almost claimed his life

Tue, 11 Sep 2018

A well known local garage owner and rally driver has marked the 20th anniversary of his serious rally crash, by thanking all those who have helped him in his long road to recovery.

Ian ‘Hippy’ Corkill (from Corkills Garage  and 4WD fame) was testing his 6R4 Metro on the Manx Rally ‘Shakedown’ Stage when his throttles jammed open. It caused a high speed crash that nearly cost him his life.

His co-driver Howard Allison, although in shock, walked away from the accident which happened at a cattle grid near ‘Snuff the Wind Mines’ in 1998.

Hippy was not so lucky and spent the next five years in a wheel chair.

In a statement he published in the local press, Hippy thanks all the paramedics and doctors who he says kept him in the ‘land of the living’ as well as all the other professionals and family who aided his recovery.

His tribute finishes by promising ‘he won’t do it again!’

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