The Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man is considered the most dangerous motorsport event in the world. It is extremely controversial - and is already claiming the second fatality this year. Frenchman Oliver Lavorel dies when the sidecar combination overturns.
The infamous Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man has already claimed its second fatality this year. Frenchman Olivier Lavorel died on Sunday when the sidecar combination driven by his compatriot Cesar Chanel overturned on the first lap. British Yamaha rider Mark Purslow died in a serious accident during practice last Wednesday.
Lavorel was a passenger in Chanel's team when the driver could no longer keep the sidecar on the road. The 29-year-old died on the track. Chanel was taken to the hospital and his condition is reported to be critical. It was the first participation in the Tourist Trophy for the duo. The sidecar race was canceled after the accident, but it should be made up for on Monday.
The 29-year-old Purslow fell on Wednesday in one of the fastest and most difficult of the 264 curves on the 60-kilometer route. In the so-called Ballagarey, the pilots reach more than 260 kilometers per hour. "Racing was his passion - he raced in Northern Ireland and in the International Road Racing Championship - but becoming a Tourist Trophy driver was his life goal and ultimate personal challenge. The TT is ongoing but we are thinking of Mark," the organizers wrote after the Tragedy on social networks.
Held since 1907, the Tourist Trophy is the most controversial and dangerous motorsport event in the world. House walls, walls, embankments, slopes, depressions, blind curves, no run-off zones, just a few bales of straw along the way - nevertheless the spectacle attracts tens of thousands of fans year after year. Since 1911, the two-week event has claimed no fewer than 260 lives.
