Stockton's sidecar suffered from 'massive distortion' to bodywork

Father and son's inquest resumes at Douglas Courthouse

This story contains information which some readers may find upsetting: 

Photographs and video footage taken of a sidecar during a fatal TT race last year show the machine was suffering from ‘massive distortion’ to its bodywork.

The inquest into the deaths of Roger and Bradley Stockton, from Cheshire, was reconvened at Douglas Courthouse today (2 March).

Coroner of Inquests Jayne Hughes told the Stockton family the proceedings were a ‘fact finding forum’ and not a ‘fault finding forum’.

The father and son were killed when their sidecar crashed near Ago’s Leap, during the second sidecar race, on 10 June.

Onboard footage, and video filmed by spectators, was played to the court today showing the final moments of their final race.

"It is an inquest not a trial." - Coroner of Inquests Jayne Hughes

Witnesses, who were spectating from gardens along Quarterbridge Road, described seeing sidecar number 34 swerve before hitting the curb and colliding with a wall.  

One man explained how he’d heard a ‘loud screeching sound’ before seeing the sidecar ‘revolving in the wrong direction’.

“I just froze,” he told the court: “The collision was very quick – I estimate it happened in two seconds.”

Another watched as the sidecar veered ‘sharp right’ adding he could see the driver, 56-year-old Roger, ‘trying to correct it’.

“Everything went silent for a split second,” he said, adding: “There was an almighty explosion and a massive bang.”

Debris from the crash was thrown into the air, hitting and injuring a number of spectators, with the man telling the court: “It was like there were bullets being shot through the air.”

Another TT fan who’d gone back to Ago’s Leap, after witnessing the fatal sidecar crash in the first sidecar race, said he and his family had returned to the spot to ‘help them process what they had witnessed’.

Instead they were faced with a second collision: “There was an almighty sound followed by what I can only describe as carnage,” he told the court: “There was so much debris on the road.”

“Everything went silent for a split second.” - Witness

Conditions on the day were described as sunny, dry and windy.

Fellow sidecar competitor Ryan Crowe told the court the Stockton’s had been using the same chassis as he and the Birchall Brothers were using – the latter had built it for them.

He explained how the duo had been ‘black flagged’ during the first race due to issues with their fairing.

Detailing footage he’d viewed post-crash Mr Crowe said the wind ‘wasn’t too much on the day’ but it was clear, from what he’d seen, there was ‘massive distortion’ in the fairing as it was hit by the breeze.

"It (Ago's) was a very fast part but it isn't a difficult part." - TT racer Ryan Crowe

Technical officials who’d signed off the Stockton’s sidecar, before the race, had recorded that the outfit was ‘free of defects’.

Giving evidence the TT’s technical director, and vehicle examiner, David Hagen - who reviewed the machine after the crash - said there was evidence of previous damage, and repair work, to the fairing.

Describing the deformation of the bodywork as ‘very severe’ he said he was ‘unclear’ if the duo would have been aware of the issue as it would have come and gone depending on their speed.

He said video footage, in slow motion, had shown the ‘anomaly’ getting worse as the race progressed adding that it wouldn’t have been noticeable at lower speeds.

When asked by the Stockton family if the racers should have, or could have, been black flagged during the race he acknowledged it would have been ‘exceptionally difficult’ for marshals around the course to view the defect ‘with a naked eye’.

No other mechanical defects were recorded.

"No one asked for sidecar 34 to be black flagged." - Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson 

The court also heard that no issues with the road surface had been flagged at, or near, Ago’s Leap with experienced TT competitor Dave Molyneux telling the court he felt the fact there were two crashes in the same spot was ‘coincidental’.

Both Roger and Bradley, who was 21-years-old and making his debut at the TT, died at the scene from multiple injuries caused by the motor racing incident.

Tomorrow, (3 March), Coroner Hughes will record a verdict into their deaths.