Sidecar Ruled Out as Cause of Crash

The inquest into the death of the César Louis Roger Chanal has heard that the machine he was racing on had no defects prior to the crash.

Coroner of Inquest Jane Hughes opened by saying that as Mr Chanal’s teammate Olivier Lavorel died in France, she has no jurisdiction to hold an inquest into his death.

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. 

With members of both families in attendance at Douglas Courthouse, Mrs Hughes read statements relating to the condition of the sidecar the two men were racing when they crashed. 

The first three of those statements were from Steve Cowin, Adrian Preston and Sandy Denning, who are all licensed technical officials who stated that the only defect to the bike prior to the race was a loose passenger foot rest, which was repaired prior to the start of the race and certified as such. 

Mrs Hughes later read a technical report from technical director David Hagen, who examined the machine at the scene and later in a workshop.

He said that at the scene, debris from the crash was spread across Quaterbridge Road while the bike had clear evidence of a massive impact and substantial fire damage.

During a later detailed examination, he found that the bike was severely damaged, the engine was no longer working due to damage it sustained in the crash, only one tyre was able to be fully analysed, which was found to be in good order, and that most of the bike has sustained severe damage.

However, despite the damage, Mr Hagen said: ‘Following my examination, I found no mechanical defects that would have caused the incident.’

The inquest continues this afternoon.