Father of Perth girl, 8, killed in drag racing crash wants sport to continue despite tragedy
The father of a young girl killed while drag racing at Perth speedway says he wants junior drag racing to continue, despite his tragic loss.
Eight-year-old Anita Board died in hospital on Sunday, a day after her dragster slammed into a wall at a junior race at the Perth Motorplex.
The Western Australian government on Monday announced it would suspend all junior drag racing pending the outcome of an investigation.
Perth Motorplex has also been closed while police carry out their own investigation.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, Anita's father Ian Board said he didn't believe a major change to junior drag racing was needed.
“We do want kids to go on and enjoy their racing," the heartbroken said.
“We do understand that there’ll need to be a couple of changes, we don’t believe there needs to be a major change."
“We chose drag racing because we believed it was the safest form of motor sport that we could allow our girls to do. The history speaks for itself,” he added.
“Sadly this one in a million event happened to us, to our little girl.”
Mr Board described his daughter as "a bright and bubbly personality".
"Her smile was infectious and brightened everyone’s days," he said.
"Anita was passionate about drag racing and was excited to be joining her sister at the track to race.
"We were blessed to have eight years with her.
"She said this was going to be 'the best day ever'."
The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) will undertake its own internal investigation into the incident.
Under current rules, junior drag racers as young as eight are able to drive at up to speeds of 96km/h.
Anita was trying to qualify for her junior dragster racing licence, which was intended to be her birthday present.
