PLYMOUTH Devils rider Lee Smart has revealed it was a burning exhaust which injured him so badly he may miss the rest of the season.

Smart, who had rejoined Devils at the beginning of the season, was badly hurt when he crashed into the rear of team-mate Jesper Kristiansen's bike during Plymouth's defeat at Berwick more than a week ago.

Kristiansen had lost control of his bike, with Smart just behind him.

It was thought at first the Devils rider, tipped by Plymouth boss Mike Bowden to be one of the stars of the season, would be out for between six and eight weeks.

Bowden is negotiating with a possible replacement while Smart is out of action.

But, speaking from hospital in Bristol, where he had to undergo a skin graft to repair his leg, revealed the injury had been done by a red-hot exhaust.

And he said the injury could keep him off a bike for anything up to a year.

Riders are trying out new exhausts this season which emit less noise.

Smart said: "Jesper made a mistake, but I in no way blame him for what happened.

"The bike cart-wheeled and landed on top of me and the exhaust just burned through my skin – I was actually down to the muscle.

"With normal exhausts, it would burn a bit, but not like this. I dread to think what damage they could cause if they landed on someone's chest."

Smart said while he wasn't calling for the new exhausts to be banned, he believed they should be thoroughly examined.

"What did all the damage to me was the heat," he said. "I would have thought something should be done about the exhausts on health and safety grounds.

"Meanwhile, I'm not going to take any risks about pushing myself back too soon.

"It's a case of waiting to see what happens and taking my time.

"I've had a skin graft with skin from another part of my leg and I come off the bike again and mess it up, I'll be straight back in here again.

"I'm waiting to see how the skin graft has taken.

"I've been laying on my back for a week in hospital and I've only just been allowed to get up to go to the toilet."

Smart said he didn't know how long he would be out of speedway.

He said: "It could be anything from a month to a year. I can tell you now that I don't think it's going to be a month.

"To be honest, I would be happy with three months and I would love to say I'd be back before the end of the season, but whether it happens is another matter.

" I'm going to do everything correctly to get fit again.

"I've had crashes before and I've just walked away from them and quite honestly, I would have preferred a broken leg.

"At least it would have mended after six weeks and I would have been up and away.

"This is just frustrating. All I want to do is get back on my bike again."