Sidecar racer dies after incident at the Isle of Man TT

Racing at the Isle of Man TT got underway on Saturday afternoon with the opening six-lap Superbike race, which went off without major incident and was won by FHO Racing’s Peter Hickman.   

A three-lap Sidecar race was due to follow the Superbike contest, but was red-flagged just moments after it got underway due to a serious incident at Ago’s Leap one mile into the course. 

It is thought one outfit crashed and a following Sidecar was caught unsighted as it began its lap and hit the stricken machine, causing a major fire incident.

As a result, the race was stopped and subsequently cancelled for the evening as the incident was attended to by emergency responders. 

Tragically, TT organisers have confirmed that French Sidecar passenger Olivier Lavorel was killed in the incident, while the driver of the Shock Factory outfit – Cesar Chanal – was airlifted to Aintree Hospital in a critical condition. 

Update: TT later issued a clarification on June 8 stating that it was in fact driver Cesar Chanal who was killed in the accident and not Olivier Lavorel.

A statement from TT organisers read: “The Isle of Man TT Races regrets to confirm that Olivier Lavorel, 35, from Sillingy, France was killed in an incident during the first Sidecar race of the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races. 

“The accident occurred at Ago’s Leap, just under one mile into the course, on the opening lap of the race. Olivier was competing in his first TT as a passenger to Cesar Chanal. 

“Cesar was taken to Noble’s Hospital by road and airlifted to Aintree Hospital in a critical condition. 

“Olivier and Cesar were both newcomers at the Isle of Man TT Races and had been elevated from start number 39 to start number 21 after qualifying as the 15th fastest pairing, having posted an impressive lap speed of 108.420mph. 

“An experienced pairing, Olivier and Cesar had taken numerous victories and podiums in the French F1 and F2 National Sidecar Championships. 

 “The Isle of Man TT Races pass on their deepest sympathy to Olivier’s family, friends and loved ones, and our thoughts and best wishes are with Cesar at this time.” 

This follows the tragic death of solo racer Mark Purslow on Wednesday evening following a crash in practice.