Rider deaths in British motorcycle racing series

Motorcycle racing is a popular competitor and spectator sport in Great Britain. Several meetings take place every weekend of the motorport season, at various circuits across the country. These range from club or national series, like the Thundersport GB series, to higher profile events like the British Superbike Championship. The age of competitors in cirucit racing ranges from juniors of 12 years to people in their 60's or occasionally older. Due to the large number of competitors and the hazardous nature of the sport, and despite the best efforts of organising bodies and redesign of circuits, there have been many rider deaths recorded. Often these deaths occur in series without a major media profile and therefore receive very little press coverage. The worst single incident occurred in 1971 when Peter Pritchard, Peter Sheridan and Philip Smith all died as the result of a sidecar crash at Oulton Park.

This article is a partial list of riders known to have died competing in British national or club racing series at any level.

1932	Mr Dillion	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Donington Park	[1]
1933	Alfred Mead	Unknown	Donington Park	[1]
1955	Eric Shepard	Unknown	Castle Combe	[1]
1958	John Shakesphere	Mallory Championship	Mallory Park	[1]
1960	Neville Smith	Wirrall 100 Club Championships	Oulton Park	[1]
1961	Norman Bramhall	Auto-Cycle Union Championships	Oulton Park	[1]
1961	John Thomas Addis	Auto-Cycle Union Championships	Oulton Park	[1]
1962	Bob McIntyre	British 500cc Championship	Oulton Park	[1]
1962	J.W Deaville	Unknown	Oulton Park	[1]
1962	Roy Matthew	British Road Racing Championship	Brands Hatch	[1]
1962	Harold Scholes	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Brands Hatch	[1]
1963	Thomas Sheaff	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1963	Blake Osborne	Hutchinson 100 Meeting	Silverstone	[1]
1963	Gary Saward	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1963	Dave Downer	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1963	Gordon Pill	Unknown	Castle Combe	[1]
1964	Paul Richardson	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1964	Alan Parker	Unknown	Oulton Park	[1]
1965	Florian Camathias	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1965	Alan Haigh	Unknown	Oulton Park	[1]
1965	Alex Fullerton	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1965	Bernard Gaynor	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1966	Robert Smith	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1966	Brian Madin	Unknown Darley Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1967	Stuart Hughes	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1967	Fritz Scheidegger	Sidecar Race of the Year	Mallory Park	[1]
1969	Roly Capper	Darley 350cc Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1971	Peter Pritchard	750cc Sidecar Race +	Oulton Park	[1]
1971	Peter Sheridan	750cc Sidecar Race +	Oulton Park	[1]
1971	Philip Smith	750cc Sidecar Race +	Oulton Park	[1]
1972	Thomas Goodfellow	British 750cc Championship	Mallory Park	[1]
1972	Patrick Belshaw	Vincent Club Championships	Cadwell Park	[1]
1972	Roderick Gosling	Darley Sidecar Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1972	John Hartridge	Darley Sidecar Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1972	Cyril Jones	Unknown	Snetterton	[1]
1972	Graham Penny	Hutchinson 100 Meeting	Brands Hatch	[1]
1973	Graham Wills	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1974	Phil Haslam	Unknown Meeting	Oliver's Mount	[1]
1974	Steve Machin	Unknown Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1974	Dennis Westwood	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Mallory Park	[1]
1974	Mick Moore	Snetterton Combine Sidecar Race	Snetterton	[1]
1975	Veronica Ensor	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1975	Lance Capon	Silver Trophy Road Race Series	Brands Hatch	[1]
1976	Rod North	Unknown	Oulton Park	[1]
1976	Derek Best	Unknown	Oulton Park	[1]
1976	Bill Henderson	Race of the Year	Mallory Park	[1]
1976	Thomas Standing	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1977	Mick Patrick	MCN Superbike Championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
1977	Piers Forester	BRC Formula 750 Championship	Brands Hatch	[1]
1977	Steve Tomkins	Bemsee Club Meeting	Snetterton	[1]
1977	Phil Bosco	North East Solo Championship	Croft Circuit	[1]
1977	Greg Bailey	British Motorcycle Racing Club	Donington Park	[1]
1978	Stanley Cooper	Darley Sidecar Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1979	Dave Powell	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Oulton Park	[1]
1980	Hans Peter Lubbering	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Oulton Park	[1]
1980	Geoff Fawcett	Unknown	Cadwell Park	[1]
1980	Simon Corry	BMCRC Production Race	Snetterton	[1]
1981	Dave Potter	British Superbike Championship	Oulton Park	[1]
1981	Wayne Mills	ACU 125cc Clubmans Championship	Silverstone	[1]
1981	Mick Downs	Newmarket Club Championships	Snetterton	[1]
1981	William Watson	Cheshire Club Championships	Oulton Park	[1]
1981	Neil Miles	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1981	William Deacon	Unknown	Mallory Park	[1]
1981	Kevin Clementson	Transatlantic Trophy Meeting	Mallory Park	[1]
1982	Michael Robbins	500cc Production Championship	Donington Park	[1]
1982	Douglas Taylor	Reverse Direction	Knockhill	[1]
1982	Stewart Burkhart	Reverse Direction	Knockhill	[1]
1982	Bill Jackson	Unknown	Snetterton	[1]
1982	Garry Hislop	Club Championship	Silloth	[1]
1983	John Birkett	Star of Darley Race	Darley Moor	[1]
1983	Bob Smith	500cc British Championship	Olivers Mount Scarborough	[1]
1984	Jack Gordon	Sidecar Race	Knockhill	[1]
1986	Suzzana Berg	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1986	Brian Whittaker	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Oulton Park	[1]
1987	Carl Dugdale	Cheshire Club Championships	Oulton Park	[1]
1988	Kenny Irons	British Superstock Championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
1988	Peter Warden	Unknown	Cadwell Park	[1]
1988	Les Burgan	Unknown	Snetterton	[1]
1988	Paul Blanks	Champion of Brands Series	Brands Hatch	[1]
1989	Dave Burford	Unknown	Brands Hatch	[1]
1989	Paul Kernan	Darley Ministock Championship	Darley Moor	[1]
1990	Paul Walsh	F5 Club Championships	Cadwell Park	[1]
1990	Rob Butler	Champion of Snetterton Sidecar Race	Snetterton	[1]
1990	Eric Martin	Newmarket Club Sidecar Race	Snetterton	[1]
1990	Mike Gray	Ken Redfern Trophy	Knockhill	[1]
1992	Kevin Lowndes	Unknown Sidecar Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1992	Norman Francis	Unknown Vintage Event	Mallory Park	[1]
1992	Drew Hogg	Unknown	East Fortune Raceway	[1]
1993	David Collins	Forgotten Era Championship	Mallory Park	[1]
1994	Gary Walker	British 250cc Supercup Championship	Brands Hatch	[1]
1995	Stephen Grayson	Unknown	Cadwell Park	[1]
1996	Richard Everett	Thunderbike Championship	Oulton Park	[1]
1997	Stephen Lee	British 125cc Championship	Mallory Park	[1]
1998	Dave Tills	Bemsee Club Open Junior Race	Pembrey	[1]
1999	Ian Hamilton	Classic Racing Bike Club Meeting	Cadwell Park	[1]
1999	David Morris	British Supermono Championship	Croft Circuit	[1]
2000	Kevin Scott	Classic Racing Club Sidecar Race	Pembrey	[1]
2000	Kieth Lowton	Aprilla RS250 Championship	Oulton Park	[1]
2001	Bob Bradley	Boxing Day Meeting	Mallory Park	[1]
2001	Tim Levy	British 250cc Championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
2002	Rod Clapham	CRMC Sidecar event	Cadwell Park	[1][2]
2002	Gavin Turner	Powerbike Southern Championship	Brands Hatch	[1]
2003	Lee Johnson	BMCRC Club GP250 championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
2003	Ross Campbell	Club Supersport 600 Championship	Snetterton	[1]
2003	Danny Whalin	BMCRC Yamaha Past Masters	Brands Hatch	[1]
2004	Darren Mitchell	British Superstock Championship	Brands Hatch	[1]
2004	Ross Couzens	BMCRC Minitwins	Lydden Hill	[1]
2004	Ian Mcdonald	Scottish Production Championship	Knockhill	[1]
2005	Chris Jones	British 125cc Championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
2005	James Fennings	BMCRC Rookie 400s	Lydden Hill	[1]
2005	Miles Tripp	NG Club Streetstock Championship	Pembrey	[1]
2005	Gareth Cutts	Derby Phoenix Club Championships	Cadwell Park	[1]
2005	Ross Paine	Derby Phoenix Club Championships	Mallory Park	[1]
2006	Matt Horne	Derby Phoenix Club Championships	Mallory Park	[1]
2006	Ashley Martin	British Supersport Championship	Cadwell Park	[1]
2006	Richard Moreton	East Midlands Club Events	Mallory Park	[1]
2007	Ollie Bridewell	British Superbike Championship	Mallory Park	[1]
2008	Richard Gammon	Derby Phoenix Club Championships	Cadwell Park	[1]
2008	Ben Lightowler	BMCRC Junior Stocksport 600	Brands Hatch	[1]
2009	Terry McConnachie	Derby Phoenix Club Championships	Cadwell Park	[1]
2009	Richard Slater	Hottrax Endurance Championship	Snetterton	[1]
2009	Roy Parbury	BMCRC Yamaha Past Masters	Lydden Hill	[1]
2010	Simon Exton	BMCRC Thunderbike Championship	Snetterton	[1]
2011	Benjamin Gautrey	British Superstock Championship	Cadwell Park	[3]
2011	Dave Wells	Sidecar Festival	Mallory Park	[1]
2012	Steven Hix	Auto 66	Oliver's Mount	[1]
2013	Karl-Heinz Kalbfell	BMCRC Lansdowne Classic Series	Brands Hatch	[4]
2013	Matt Polanski	Reverse Direction	Knockhill	[1]
2014	Ian Allkins	Thundersport GB 500 series	Donington Park	[1]
2014	Jake Hingley	No Limits Racing	Cadwell Park	[1]
2015	Michael McKenzie	Thundersport GB Stocktwins	Donington Park	[1]
2016	Billy Redmayne	Spring Cup	Oliver's Mount
2016	John Schoenemann	British Historic Racing	Cadwell Park

+ = Multiple riders to have died as the result of a single incident (see previous/following entry)

References

1. MotorSportMemorial.org Motorcycle deaths (retrieved 8 November 2011)
2. Source - eye witness; I was there, racing at this meeting with the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC)
3. Press Association (29 August 2011), "Ben Gautrey killed in race accident at British Superbike meeting", The Guardian, retrieved 2011-08-30
4. "Ex-BMW motorsport boss Karl-Heinz Kalbfell dies in motorcycle crash". Autosport.com. Haymarket. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.