Why those inside Superbikes love the sport despite the tragedy

Telegraph

06-05-2025

In the hours before the worst crash in modern British Superbike (BSB) history, Shane Richardson had been kicking himself over a 'bad start'. 'Went backwards quite a few positions,' the Astro-JJR Hippo Suzuki rider said of Sunday's Supersport (a support series to the BSB championship) sprint race at Oulton Park.
Having subsequently made up ground from 15th to 11th, he was determined to build on progress with a 'better start' and to be 'a bit more in the mix' for Monday's race.
Amid his and rivals' determination to push their limits, unimaginable horrors would unfold. Within seconds of getting under way, Richardson may have tweaked the throttle just a fraction too heavily at the first turn, losing the rear end and high-siding. He was then hit by Owen Jenner's bike, who was running two places behind and completely unsighted. Both riders would die and a 'chain reaction' crash involving nine more bikes left at least one rider with potentially life-changing injuries.
For Richardson's partner Hannah James, those horrors will have been compounded by the devastation of history repeating itself. By cruel fate, the mother of Richardson's two children had already been left grieving by the sport nine years ago. Billy Redmayne, James's previous partner, crashed fatally at Oliver's Mount Spring Cup, a road race in Scarborough in North Yorkshire.
'Everyone knows the risks – they just love it that much'
During these times, a community of wives and partners who have lost riders stick together. Among those to send messages of support to James on Tuesday was Leanne Harper. James had been there for her, Harper explains, when she had lost her own partner Dan Kneen in the Isle of Man TT in 2018. 'It's just unthinkable that this has happened again for her,' Harper says.
Harper and others explain how it speaks volumes about the sport's ultra-resilient community that James rebuilt her life over the past nine years with another rider in Richardson. Nobody could have forecast such widespread devastation on Monday, however. While road racing – particularly the Isle of Man TT – is notoriously deadly, only three prior fatalities had been recorded at British Superbikes events since 1988.
Investigations into the circumstances of Monday's crash, described by organisers as 'catastrophic', have been launched with police. But Harper, who set up the Dan Kneen Charitable Fund to help others facing trauma in the sport, said those who lost loved ones 'don't hate the sport'.
'It happened with Hannah and Billy, but she still found love again inside the paddock so it shows that we don't hate the sport – we've got that passion for it and they are doing what they love to do,' Harper adds.
'Everyone knows the risks at the end of the day. They just love it that much. As a family member or a partner, you want them to succeed just as much as they want to succeed. It's not that we hate the sport, it's just sometimes it can end really tragically, which is the downside.'
As James posted a poignant photograph of herself with Richardson and their two children on social media on Tuesday, the sport was shocked by the scale of the carnage the day before. With bikes capable of 200mph, falls and injuries are frequent but the 'chain reaction incident' described by MotorSport Vision Racing (MSVR) was extremely rare. One of the race competitors Jaimie van Sikkelerus called it a 'black day for motorsport with terrible losses' but, privately, senior figures in the sport underlined that safety provisions are already as 'robust as possible'.
While Briton Jenner, 21, of Rapid Honda, and New Zealander Richardson, 29, died before reaching hospital, Tom Tunstall, 47, remains in Royal Stoke University Hospital with a broken neck. An update from MSVR on Tuesday confirmed the Ducati rider 'sustained a broken bone in his neck and is currently under the care of a team of specialists' in a serious but stable condition. A 'slow but hopefully full recovery is expected,' MSVR added.
A further five riders – Carl Harris, Max Morgan, Cameron Hall, Freddie Barnes and Morgan McLaren-Wood – were transferred to the circuit medical centre with minor injuries, which did not require transfer to hospital. Three further riders – Lewis Jones, Corey Tinker and George Edwards – were also involved but were uninjured.
'This guy became one of my closest friends'
McLaren-Wood later posted: 'Struggling to find the words for what happened. Rest in peace, Shane and Owen. My heart goes out to both of their families during this heartbreaking time.'
Another rider, Superbike frontrunner Rory Skinner, wrote: 'Gutted is an understatement. The sport can be too cruel at times. Thoughts and condolences to everyone and their families involved in today's incident.'
Close friends of both Richardson and Jenner also paid tribute to the pair. The British Supersport rider Cameron Dawson posted about Jenner: 'I don't know where to start with this,' he wrote. 'I'm speechless. Today I lost a brother, our journey started off when I was going through a rough patch and this guy came into my life and became one of my closest friends I've ever had.'
Motorcycling New Zealand president Michael McLeod added of Richardson that the sport had lost a 'mentor to a lot of young up-and-coming riders that are now competing in Europe and England as well'. 'He had found his comfort zone' in British Supersport, McLeod said. 'He was very good at his craft.'
Adrian Cox, general manager of Whites Powersport, which sponsored the Kiwi rider, joined figures in the sport in urging the public to accept that dangers are an inevitability.
'It's a dangerous sport, but there are a lot of safety elements within the sport, so you don't hear of too many people dying,' he pointed out to the New Zealand Herald. 'So when it does happen, it's still super tragic, and super painful because it doesn't happen every day – it doesn't happen every year.'
The risk involved in high-speed racing on two wheels clearly plays some part in the enduring appeal of British Superbikes in otherwise safety-conscious times. TNT Sports was broadcasting the event live and it is also regularly shown across Europe, Asia and North America. The sport has to move on, and there are no indications that the deaths will lead to a cancellation of any other races in the British Superbikes series. Tickets remain on sale for the next event at Donington Park in 10 days' time.
As with regular tragedies on the Isle of Man, Harper, who still works at TT events, said there will be acceptance in the sport that 'accidents happen at the end of the day'.
'It's very, very tragic on this occasion obviously, but it's the risk we take,' she added. 'They [the riders] do enjoy living on the edge. It's the adrenalin rush and they just love it. It's very sad, but they know the risks, and so do we.'