It’s around 8.10 on a lovely warm summer’s evening on the Isle of Man and the sidecar practice session in the 2022 TT – Tourist Trophy – is about to begin. The announcer at the grandstand asks the sidecar riders to get ready to race in ten minutes. There is the sound of engines revving up, great excitement and then… nothing.
There has been an incident in the TT Supersport qualifying session at Ballagarey, it turns out, and other races are suspended.
It’s not until around 11 p.m. that we learn the terrible news. A 29-year-old Welshman called Mark Purslow has been killed following a crash on his 600 Yamaha. He had just recorded his fastest ever TT lap, reaching an average speed of 120.857mph, and the night before his last, fateful qualifying session he had tweeted: ‘Roll on tomorrow’s practice.’ On Monday he had posted: ‘Love this island.’ Earlier on Wednesday I had seen Mark go out on what was to be his final ride.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in