Bertie Fisher, from Ballinamallard, in Co. Fermanagh,
Ireland, was at the time, Ireland's most successful
rally driver of all time, with 20 wins to his credit.
Fisher had a couple of near misses and
fatal accidents over his time in the drivers seat, but none as eye-opening or lethally-potential as that of the dreaded
Galway '86 incident, where his
brakes failed at a 90' right junction on the second day, and he
barely missed spectators who, by standing behind tape set up by marshalls, naively thought they were safe.
This led to not only
Fisher's retirement for about 15 months but also totally
changed the concept of Rally spectating in Ireland.
This incident, coupled with the
fatal '86 COI (circuit of Ireland) accident where
Ford's Kelli Grundel knocked a boy flying 20 ft into the air, when he was standing in the middle of a stage, created a
two-month ban on rallying in
Ireland, a thought which could hardly be thought of now.
His success was unrivalled, with
victories in all different classes and teams throughout the
eighties winning 20
tarmac championships and numerous rallies both in
Ireland and the
Isle of Man.
Not, only a
champion on the roads, Fisher, and his family, became
highly influential business people in
Northern Ireland, especially in the
steel and
construction business. He is reputed to have made millions.
Unfortunately, there is
no happy ending to the Bertie Fisher story. On the 21st of January
2001, Fisher, his two sons
Mark and
Roy, daughter
Emma and wife
Gladys were returning to
Fermanagh in the family's private
helicopter when it
lost control and crashed.
Emma and
Mark were both
killed instantly.
Roy suffered two
broken arms and
Gladys is in
critical condition awaiting
surgery. Bertie's
life support machine was turned off last night,
Monday 22nd January 2000, and 11.15pm, he had suffered extensive brain damage.
So ends the story of [Ireland's greatest rally driver of all time}.
Information gleaned from various sources, UTV, Irish Rally Website and AOL.