Gisborne teen feels ‘very lucky’ despite broken bones from speedway crash

The ministock machine of Vinzent MacGregor, who comes from Gisborne but races out of Hawke's Bay, flies through the air at Gisborne Speedway Club's meeting last Saturday. MacGregor suffered broken vertebrae but is expected to make a full recovery. Photo / Angus Bodle Photography

Twelve weeks seems an eternity when you’re 15, but Vinny MacGregor is under doctors’ orders for a recovery programme that doesn’t include speedway ... yet.

Vinzent MacGregor – Vinny to family and friends – fractured his T4, 5, 6 and 7 vertebrae (about the middle of the back) during a 1200cc youth ministock race early in the Saturday night programme at Gisborne’s Awapuni Speedway.

Cars came together and Vinny’s vehicle became airborne before it crashed into the dirt and out of the race.

His father Dylan was at the meeting and relieved to see him helped out of the car and “still mobile”.

“Any time you see your kid crash, you are worried,” he said.

“The St John Ambulance people there were so good, and at the hospital that night Vinny had a CT scan, which showed the fractures in his back.

“We found out on Sunday morning when the surgeons came around that he would be okay without an operation.

“He has to rest up and not strain. He’s not in any restrictive cast or strapping. They like to allow a little movement.

“He’s in charge of how long it will take to heal. If he does all the right things, it will be 12 weeks.”

Dylan MacGregor said his son was a “focused, intelligent, driven young man”, so he expected the 12-week target to be met.

Vinny MacGregor stands next to his 5B ministock before a meeting. He is recovering at home after crashing in the 1200cc championship at Gisborne's Awapuni Speedway on Saturday night.

MacGregor senior, 44, had a crash of his own in March 2024 and hasn’t raced since.

The Gisborne Herald report about the incident said video replays showed his TQ midget somersaulting 10 times before coming to rest on its roof. TQ (three-quarter) midgets are high-powered, lightweight, open-wheel race cars known for speed and agility.

MacGregor walked away from the crash and praised race car safety. But he said he hadn’t “bounced back 100%” and, having won all he wanted to win, he saw no point in going back if he was below his best.

“I have seen it as ‘I am a has-been and Vinny is a gonna-be’,” he said. “And I’ve found watching Vinny so much more enjoyable.”

Asked whether he was hesitant about helping Vinny get back into racing, MacGregor said: “It’s what he wants to do. I’ve seen ministocks have much bigger crashes and the drivers walk out fine. He has all the top-notch safety gear.

“As far as the TQ goes, it’s a case of when, not if, you’re going to have a decent accident. That’s the nature of the sport, so you prepare for it and take all the precautions to make sure you aren’t hurt.

“I think once speedway is in your blood, it’s pretty hard to get it out.”

Speedway is important to Vinny, but it’s not his only enthusiasm.

He played football when he was at Awapuni School and Gisborne Intermediate, and has continued at Lindisfarne College in Hastings. He’s a left winger, scoring goals and making them.

Chess is another interest he pursued competitively.

“He’s in fifth form – Year 11, they call it,” his father said. “Last year he was junior dux at Lindsfarne.”

Friends suggested to MacGregor that boarding school would make the most of Vinny’s talents, and the teen did his own research and chose Lindisfarne.

He has been a boarder there from Year 9 onwards, coming home “90%” of the weekends.

“Sometimes they do pretty cool stuff and the kids want to stay there for the weekend, and in winter he plays football.”

MacGregor said allowing his son to go away to school was one of the hardest things he’d had to do, but it had been “great” for Vinny.

Having cut his teeth with Eastland Kart Club, Vinny continued to call Gisborne his racing base when he got into speedway while at school in Hawke’s Bay. But his father said he was planning a change in division.

“Vinny is 15 and was in his third season of ministocks, but he’s opted not to do them next season. He wanted to drive my TQ, but Rod McIndoe [Gisborne Speedway Club member] offered his saloon car and, if he hadn’t had his crash, Vinny would have test-driven it at the end of the meeting on Saturday.

“It was horrible to see that crash, but for Vinny it’s been uplifting to experience the goodwill of so many. One of Vinny’s sponsors, Lance Sutherland, got in touch with Greg Murphy [four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000] and he reached out by phone.

“Lindisfarne staff are sending Vinny everything he needs to keep up to date with schoolwork, and his mates are saying, ‘We’re here to help’. He’s in a great frame of mind.”

Vinny said he was “very lucky” on Saturday.

“It could have been much worse.”

Asked how he felt about getting back into a race car, he said: “I’m just more determined to win.”

And his preferred next drive?

“I like anything with speed. I’ll probably try TQs and saloons and see what I like.”

He turns 16 on June 27, just over halfway through his forecast recovery time.

Vinny and his father want to thank Gisborne Speedway Club and Meeanee Speedway for their support. The presidents of both organisations reached out to let the family know Vinny was in their thoughts.

Dylan MacGregor and his wife Beth, meanwhile, have a speedway-driver-in-waiting at home.

Five-year-old Maverick is Vinny’s biggest fan and “main mechanic” in his pit crew.