We’ll Never Know What Really Happened

Coroner of Inquests Jayne Hughes has said that despite a detailed investigation, we will likely never know exactly how two French sidecar racers met their deaths.

Today saw the conclusion of the inquest into the death of César Louis Roger Chanal, aged 32, of Brons, France.

Mr Chanal’s death followed a crash near Ago’s Leap on the opening lap of the first Sidecar Race of TT22 on Saturday June 4.

His passenger, Olivier Lavorel died in France some months later and as such the Manx Coroner has no jurisdiction over his death.

Throughout the inquest, Mrs Hughes had heard from witnesses giving evidence on the roadworks undertaken in the area prior to the resumption of the TT post-pandemic, the machine they were racing on and the issue of confusion around identification of the two men.

Addressing the death of Mr Chanal, Mrs Hughes read from a post mortem report by Dr Ervine Long, who said the Frenchman had died as a result of multiple injuries resulting from high speed crash.

She said: ‘It is necessary and I do not intend to go into those injuries.’

While the cause of Mr Chanal’s death is known, the matter of how that happens remains unclear.

Having heard from Dave Molyneux, who competed in the sidecar races, as well as DoI highways lead designer Scott Duncan and Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson, Mrs Hughes said there is no evidence that the relaid road played a role in his death.

The Coroner also ruled out an issue with the machine, after it was inspected by technical director David Hagen, who examined the machine at the scene and later in a workshop.

He said: ‘Following my examination, I found no mechanical defects that would have caused the incident.’

In her conclusion, Mrs Hughes said that she was aware that the events of Mr Chanal’s death were ‘a tragedy for the family of all those involved’ and said she was ‘sure they are looking for definitive answers’.

However, she said: ‘Sadly, as is often the case, I am unable to provide that definitive answer’. And added: ‘A question mark remains over how he died.’

Mrs Hughes said that while she was unable to find a definitive reason for the cause of the crash, she was satisfied in reaching a conclusion of death by misadventure as Mr Chanal had entered the TT fully aware of the risks and died as a result of an accident.

She also noted that despite the two men being found with each other’s dog tags, which led to the issue around identification, she was unable to come to a conclusion as to how this happened.

Stocktons

As a result of the planned changes introduced by the ACU ahead of this year’s TT, Mrs Hughes said she would not be making recommendations.

She said: ‘On the basis of evidence presented to me I have not identified an issue with the location or sidecar racing more generally.’

However, mindful that she will soon be resuming the inquest into the death of father and son team Roger and Bradley Stockton, who died in a crash on Senior Race Day in almost exactly the same spot and Mr Chanel, Mrs Hughes said that this view could change after that inquest is concluded.

Extending her condolences to Mr Chanel’s family, Mrs Hughes said: ‘I hope this inquest has provided some closure to you.’

While unable to do the same for Mr Lavorel’s family, some of whom were in attendance, Mrs Hughes did also extend her condolences to them.