FINISH MOTORCYCLE TEAM SUFFERS SERIOUS ACCIDENT ON THE WAY TO RICHMOND

Elmeri Salakari’s Finnish team, which had shown so much promise in the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle Series opener, is regrouping after a serious accident earlier this week on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma while en route to the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Crew member Ari Lapiolahti (who goes by the nickname “Nitro Jesus”) was seriously injured and remains in an Oklahoma City hospital. According to Jaska Salakari, the racer’s father, Lapiolahti’s right foot was severed on the spot and his leg was amputated below the knee. He also suffered shattered ribs, a broken collarbone and possible shoulder damage and is in danger of losing several fingers. He has undergone several surgeries and will undergo several more in the coming days.

“But he is alive and not paralyzed or brain damaged,” said Jaska Salakari.

With the help of truck driver Hannes Köntti (also known as “Hanski”). Elmeri Salakari, trained in first aid and trauma management during his service in the Finnish army, applied a compression bandage to Lapiolahti’s thigh with an extension cord, almost certainly saving his life.

According to the motorcycle racing publication Eat My Ink, racer Elmeri Salakari, a finalist at the Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, and his father, Jaska Salakari, had stopped at Sam Wills’ shop in Oklahoma City. Wills had loaned a transport truck to the Salakari organization, and shortly after they loaded it and left for Dinwiddie, Virginia, around 5:00 PM Central Time, they experienced their first minor accident.

The rig hit a bump in the road that caused so many problems that the team had to pull over to the side of the highway to repair the problem. Despite the fact that the team had taken good and adequate measures to warn oncoming traffic, a semi-truck passed by and collided with the rear of the dumper with full force. The equipment was unusable and the contents were destroyed.

Elmeri Salakari was also injured. He had briefly lost consciousness on impact but woke up in time to help his friend, but was later treated and released from the same hospital with minor bruising and stretched ligaments in his right thumb.

Friends have set up a Go Fund Me page to help cover medical costs. The link to it is:

Fundraiser by Elmeri Salakari: Salakari Racing – Ari Lapiolahti Recovery Fund (gofundme.com)

Jaska Salakari provided details about the situation in the following post from his Facebook page:

“Thank you for all the hundreds of messages we have received over the past two days. We appreciate them. They helped us survive these days.

“(It is unclear) What actually happened in the accident and what damage and injuries the accident caused. The situation is not good by any means, except that no one died.

“The accident happened in a road works zone where the speed limit is 90 km per hour. The road was in very poor condition and had enormous bumps. Hanski was driving the truck and noticed that there were sparks everywhere behind the truck. The trailer was thrown from the side on the safety chains and almost fell on his side. He managed to stop safely on the side of the road and immediately said that this was a very dangerous place to stop, and he and Elmeri moved the plastic traffic control cones They closed the roadway until the previous intersection before looking to quickly reconnect the trailer and drive to the truck stop half a mile away to better check what had happened.

Hanski grabbed a flashlight and stood behind the semi-trailer to warn other traffic. Elmeri and Ari went between the truck and the semi-trailer to hook the semi-trailer back up. Hanski noticed that the oncoming semi-auto would not slow down or changed lanes and was going to crash into the trailer, but he didn’t have time to warn his friends.

“Terrible crash and impact against the air-filled parts of the trailer and the road. Hanski’s thought was that they both died instantly. He first shouted at Elmeri, who answered from thirty yards away from the bottom of the ditch, then shouted at Ari, whose response was not heard. Elmeri climbed out of the ditch. They found what looked like a clothespin, which turned out to be Ari, who was seriously injured in the ankle, and Ari was unresponsive. Before the ambulance arrived, Elmeri and Hanski laid down. a compression bandage on Ari’s thigh with an extension cord so that he did not dehydrate and they gave first aid, which may have saved Ari’s life. Elmeri received thorough trauma and first aid While serving in the Finnish army, he did not panic and get upset not in shock, even though the situation was truly chaotic.

“Elmeri tried to call the emergency number, but Prepay cannot call the emergency number. He called me at 5:09 am. I immediately understood from his voice that something very serious had happened. He said that a truck was traveling at a speed of at least 100 km per drove up behind them for an hour and that everything was destroyed. He and Hanski are still alive, but there is no information about Ari. I asked him to share his location with me, which was 40 miles from my hotel where I arrived and tried to get out of the car to see what happened to my son and my two friends. The police did not let them out of the car and threatened to arrest me if I did not continue the journey immediately , I had that to keep going, just like I had my worst nightmare.

“Things were really not going well for Elmeri. He had involuntarily lost consciousness due to the impact. Both shoes had fallen from his feet. They have still not been found. It is a total miracle that Elmeri was not or was not seriously injured. died. After a full check-up he was able to leave the hospital. The injuries are superficial bruises and the ligaments of the right thumb are stretched.

“Ari was very seriously injured. He is now receiving the best possible care at OU Hospital in Oklahoma City. He has undergone numerous surgeries and will have several more in the coming days. His right leg has currently been amputated. Below the knee the situation also very precarious with the fingers of his left hand. Doctors are doing everything they can to save the fingers, because he is left-handed. In addition, all his ribs are shattered, cervical vertebrae, broken collarbones, possibly also serious damage to the shoulders, but he is alive and is not paralyzed or brain damaged.

“Ari’s recovery is now the most important thing. He and his wife Laura need all our support now. The racing equipment withstood the accident surprisingly well. After the race in Chicago we made many good improvements so that we could also show how fast. Expectations were high and the feeling was great. Our team will need a lot of support so that we can participate in the two remaining races.”

Link to video of the aftermath:

(20+)Elmeri Salakari | Facebook