7 hurt in bike race carnage
Two riders crash on ‘TT by the sea’ hairpin bend
FIVE spectators and two riders were injured in crashes at a seaside motorbike road race.
A rider warming up came off on a hairpin bend and hurt three people watching, one seriously.
Three hours later a second rider smashed through the fence at the same spot. He was seriously injured and two other spectators were also hurt.
Three of the injured were taken by air ambulance to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough and a fourth by road to Scarborough Hospital.
The rider from the first crash at Oliver’s Mount circuit in Scarborough, North Yorks, posted an apologetic tweet.
He was treated at the scene and wrote: “Really sorry to spectators involved in my accident today there was nothing I could have done I’m very upset and shaken after whats happened.”
The other rider’s electric throttle may have jammed. Thousands of spectators were at the Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup Road Race, described as a “miniature TT by the seaside”.
Scott Beaumont from Oliver’s Mount, said before the race watching “these riders racing against each other at the speeds they do is jaw-dropping. “I’ve been to Formula One, seen sky diving, done motocross and all sorts of different extreme sports but out of all of them this one is something special.”
The race was stopped after the second crash and, in a statement, race organisers apologised to fans.