The racing community is mourning the death of a 48-year-old driver who was killed in a high-speed car crash during a race on Saturday night.
Stephen Douglas was competing on a dirt track at the Daylesford Speedway Track, before losing control and crashing his Ford Falcon. The accident happened at 7.30pm during the Chivers Memorial day event off Basin Road.
Stephen Douglas was killed in a high-speed crash while racing in Daylesford.Credit:Drouin Speedway Inc
Poowong resident and CFA volunteer Stephen Douglas, known to friends and family as “Dougo”, began racing almost 30 years ago in 1994. It was Douglas’s first time racing at the annual event, and a photo was taken after he won a heat just hours before the fatal crash.
A video shows the air ambulance arriving at the raceway, flying a critically wounded Douglas to The Alfred hospital, where he later died.
Onlookers described the crash as “surreal”, with one witness writing on Facebook: “I’ve never experienced or seen anything like what we did yesterday, from the accident right in front of us to the emergency helicopter landing in the middle of the track, it just seems so surreal.”
A Drouin Speedway spokesperson says Douglas “was not only a husband, father, grandfather, he was a mate to many, an advisor, and a great bloke that would help anybody”.
Mourners posted tributes online, with one user saying: “Stephen was always funny, and there for me, as a good friend.” Another friend wrote: “[Rest in peace] one of the most genuine blokes I had the pleasure of racing with.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the cost of Douglas’s funeral. The page was set up by Mathew Reddecliffe, a committee member of the Nyora Raceway, where Stephen was a life member.
“What a legend and genuine guy,” Reddecliffe said. “He was always helping others and lending a hand whenever someone was in trouble whether in general life or at the speedway.”
A second man was taken to Ballarat Base Hospital with upper body injuries and is in stable condition.
Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
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