View Full Version : David Jefferies killed during practice at TT
Radiohead
29-05-2003, 18:26
I'm gutted.
My folks, who live on the Isle of Man, just called with the news that lap-record holder and TT God David Jefferies, was killed during practice for the TT this afternoon.
Several other riders stopped at the scene, but Jim Moodie crashed into the debris although he has been cleared to ride tomorrow.
After Daijiroh Kato's death after the Suzuka MotoGP this is rapidly turning into one of the blackest season's for bike racing.
Jefferies posted the first sub 17 minute lap of the 38.85 mile TT course when he won last year's Senior TT race, and also was the first rider to post an average speed over 127mph on the same amazing lap.
He was a utter legend, an incredibly nice and unaffected man, and my thoughts go out to his families and friends.
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From MCN:
David Jefferies has been killed and Jim Moodie injured during practice for the Isle of Man TT on Thursday afternoon.
Jefferies, 30, was riding a TAS Suzuki GSX-R1000 when he crashed at Crosby. Triumph rider Moodie was injured when he crashed into the wreckage. There is no news on what caused Jefferies’ crash at the moment – but it is believed that another bike dumped oil on the road shortly before the incident.
Moodie was airlifted to Douglas hospital with injuries to his neck after getting tangled in telephone wires strewn across the road when Jefferies’ bike hit a telegraph pole.
His injuries were not serious however and he has decided to go back out on the bike on Friday after doctors gave him the all clear.
"The death of David has left the team shocked and devastated. Not only had David become a very close personal friend of the whole team, but he was a fantastic motorcycle rider and a real ambassador for our sport. Our thoughts are with Pauline, Tony and the rest of his family circle now and their tragic loss, " said TAS Suzuki team manager, Philip Neill.
Suzuki GB sales and marketing director Mr Ichiro Kondo released a statement expressing his shock at the news. He said: " Obviously we are very shocked and saddened by the tragic news about the death of David Jefferies at the TT races. He was a great rider, but above all he was a great man. We pass on our deepest sympathies to his family on their immense loss. "
MonsterMob Ducati’s John McGuinness was following Jefferies but managed to stop before crashing and was able to return to the pits safely.
No other riders have been involved or injured.
The afternoon session was stopped immediately while the road was cleared although the sidecar practice session went ahead at 3.30pm.
Radiohead
29-05-2003, 22:02
Apparantly no-one, other than RPM, seems to care. Which just goes to show just how much genuine talent is ignored in the UK unless you kick a football for a living.
:oh-hum:
For anyone that does care it seems that DJ hit a patch of oil dumped just beforehand by another bike, and then hit a telegraph pole as he crashed. If true it was simply a tragic chain of events that has claimed one of the finest riders this country has seen.
Sprout Crumble
29-05-2003, 22:50
Jeezus, I can't believe it and I just heard. The man was a TT legend who must have known every inch of tarmac on the course.
Trouble is, its always been a lethal course, Foggy and many other riders just wouldn't race there more than once, and there are zero run-off points over most of the circuit. Couple this with a short field of vision and numerous roadside obstacles and this was a disaster waiting to happen....again. If a rider of Jeffries prodigious talent can lose his life here, then anybody can. The sheer power and capability of the bikes involved are also too much for this course. Madness.
I fully expect the usual chorus of 'ban the IOM TT', and even as a rabid biker and racing fan, its hard to disagree. This race is an anachronism and until it can be made safer (how?), its continuation needs to be severely examined. I mean, Moodie going down after hitting telephone wires on the (race)track..FFS
David Jeffries will be sadly missed as much as the great Joey Dunlop and the talented Dajiroh Kato. RIP
Local lad as well, and only 30. Terrible tragedy but I guess he knew the risks of the TT.
Originally posted by Sprout Crumble
Jeezus, I can't believe it and I just heard. The man was a TT legend who must have known every inch of tarmac on the course.
Trouble is, its always been a lethal course, Foggy and many other riders just wouldn't race there more than once, and there are zero run-off points over most of the circuit. Couple this with a short field of vision and numerous roadside obstacles and this was a disaster waiting to happen....again. If a rider of Jeffries prodigious talent can lose his life here, then anybody can. The sheer power and capability of the bikes involved are also too much for this course. Madness.
I fully expect the usual chorus of 'ban the IOM TT', and even as a rabid biker and racing fan, its hard to disagree. This race is an anachronism and until it can be made safer (how?), its continuation needs to be severely examined. I mean, Moodie going down after hitting telephone wires on the (race)track..FFS
David Jeffries will be sadly missed as much as the great Joey Dunlop and the talented Dajiroh Kato. RIP
The TT is genuine road racing with all the risks that are entailed with that. Riders are killed almost every year on the IOM but it must be allowed to continue. Road racing with cars no longer exists as it once did and the car GP scene is as sanitised as it can be with 200+ MPH racing involved. I had thought bike GP racing was getting much safer until Katoh's death earlier this year, it was a bit of an illusion (to me) to think you can make bike racing safe.
I'm very sorry for dave Jefferies and his family but I'm sure he would not have wanted the races banned.
Radiohead
30-05-2003, 09:13
Originally posted by Sprout Crumble
Jeezus, I can't believe it and I just heard. The man was a TT legend who must have known every inch of tarmac on the course.
Trouble is, its always been a lethal course, Foggy and many other riders just wouldn't race there more than once, and there are zero run-off points over most of the circuit. Couple this with a short field of vision and numerous roadside obstacles and this was a disaster waiting to happen....again. If a rider of Jeffries prodigious talent can lose his life here, then anybody can. The sheer power and capability of the bikes involved are also too much for this course. Madness.
I fully expect the usual chorus of 'ban the IOM TT', and even as a rabid biker and racing fan, its hard to disagree. This race is an anachronism and until it can be made safer (how?), its continuation needs to be severely examined. I mean, Moodie going down after hitting telephone wires on the (race)track..FFS
David Jeffries will be sadly missed as much as the great Joey Dunlop and the talented Dajiroh Kato. RIP
Whilst I agree that the current crops of 1000cc bikes are looking too powerful for the course it's impossible to legislate against an egine letting go at 170mph and causing this. The 750's would be doing this speed as well, and it was simply a tragic accident.
I cannot agree that the TT should be banned though = no-one forces riders to compete and there will always be those who wish to challenge themselves against what the course has to offer. You wouldn't want to ban people climbing Everest simply because climbers die on there. It's the ultimate course for road-racing and as such should be protected from any knee-jerk reactions.
terrible news really :(
Link to local news report (http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=524630)
its a dangerous sport, but the riders know the risks when they enter
latest on this was that unofficial reports said that a driver reversed out of their driveway forgetting the racing was on and this caused the accident. :oh-hum:
however, this has been quickly denied by officials - report here (http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=525214)
Also, fans are sending condolences to David's Website http://www.davidjefferiesracing.com/
Legendary
30-05-2003, 15:19
Maybe they need to make the course safer as Motor Bikes are extremely dangerous machine.
Do they have riders getting killed in proper racing circuits like Donnington Park or Silverstone.
Originally posted by Legendary
Maybe they need to make the course safer as Motor Bikes are extremely dangerous machine.
they can't do much with it - its just a road circuit, they couldn't go around taking down all the telegraph poles, road signs etc etc.
There are some things done to the roads on the course, the pavement curbs are usually painted black and white and there are no cats-eyes on the course.
like I, and others have said, the riders know the risks before they enter the TT.
There are usually many more civilians killed over the TT fortnight - you wanna try going around the course, in the opposite direction to the way the TT racers would - hundreds of crazy motorcyclists doing 160mph on the wrong side of the road :mad: they can be really dangerous - there haven't yet been any civilian deaths, but quite a few with life threatening injuries :(
Radiohead
30-05-2003, 16:51
Originally posted by Legendary
Do they have riders getting killed in proper racing circuits like Donnington Park or Silverstone.
Yes - only last month we saw the death of the very talented Daijiroh Kato in the MotoGP at Suzuka. It happens.
There are more at the TT due to the very nature of the course - but it's that very nature that makes some of the world's top riders test themselves against it. As I said before, no-one forces riders to race at the TT any more than people force climbers to attempt Everest.
I only heard the story that a Crosby woman reversed out of her driveway and that Jefferies avoided collision with her car, but then hit a lamp post instead..
It's quite sad but it happens every single year :(
I heard another story now, apparently the bike in front of Jefferies smoked a lot and lost some oil, and Jefferies couldn't see the oil because of the smoke, so he hit a telegraph pole. The impact must have killed him but somebody said the pole broke and a wire took off his arm :(
ManxMuppet
05-06-2003, 19:58
Wonder where the story (if it is just a story) about the woman reversing came from then :confused:
mrwriter
05-06-2003, 21:48
That race is mad.
Must admit, I'm not a fan of bikes or motorsport in general, and I'm certainly not a 'nannying' type but it really should be stopped IMO.
Not banned, just abandoned as a bad idea.
cally_turbo
05-06-2003, 22:33
i was very sad to here about kato(gp) dieing a couple of weeks ago,but now jefferies,what a shame :(
Radiohead
06-06-2003, 07:33
Originally posted by mrwriter
That race is mad.
Must admit, I'm not a fan of bikes or motorsport in general, and I'm certainly not a 'nannying' type but it really should be stopped IMO.
Not banned, just abandoned as a bad idea.
Why?
Originally posted by mrwriter
That race is mad.
Must admit, I'm not a fan of bikes or motorsport in general, and I'm certainly not a 'nannying' type but it really should be stopped IMO.
Not banned, just abandoned as a bad idea.
It's the probably the last great bike race thats still going.
Honda see's it in similar way to the suzuka 8 hour, its a must win race, since it helps to sell bikes.
Colin Edwards (last years WSB winner) was driven round the track by Dave Jefferies the other year and couldnt believe they raced on it, and was in awe of the TT riders.
If its a "ban it due to number of deaths" reaction, a quick set of stats re the TT races.
109 deaths since it first started back in the 20's/
Compare it to Everest, 175 killed attempting everest since 1922. G
Think the most killed in one TT fortnight has been 7(including spectators).
Everest saw 15 killed in one year (96), 10 in '88 and 11 in '82.
With those kind of stats, shouldnt they ban attempts on Everest!!
Why do ppl do Everest and the TT, simple, its there and its a challenge.
Its also a hell of the boost to the island economy.
I'd love to go and watch the racing, hoping to next year.
Robb
'97 Firestorm
Radiohead
06-06-2003, 08:15
Exactly Robbedge - well said that man.
No-one forces the riders to ride the TT - they do so because it's the ultimate challenge. The same goes for Paris-Dakar.
Originally posted by Radiohead
Exactly Robbedge - well said that man.
No-one forces the riders to ride the TT - they do so because it's the ultimate challenge. The same goes for Paris-Dakar.
Now that is a mad race.
Dont stray off the marked road or you may hit a land mine, talk about making life exciting:norty:
Robb
'97 Firestorm
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