Killarney race ends in tragedy for Gavin Ramsay

The annual Passion for Speed international historic race meeting at Killarney on Saturday was brought to a premature close when former multiple South African motorcycle champion Gavin Ramsay (54) died as a result of severe injuries sustained in a crash during the second SA TT motorcycle race.

Ramsay’s Suzuki slid and went down under braking at the end of the pit straight on lap three.

He had apparently hit oil, spilled on the track by another motorcycle which had crashed in the same spot seconds earlier, and was still lying at the edge of the circuit.

Ramsay was flung off his machine and slid into the crashed motorcycle, sustaining injuries which proved fatal at the scene.

The Killarney race stewards immediately cancelled further competition for the day.

Earlier, Ramsay had finished fifth in the day’s first race in the international South African Tourist Trophy series for pre-1989 motorcycles.

A week earlier he won the first race of the 2017 Historic Motorcycle series at Zwartkops near Pretoria, during the venue’s annual international historic feast.

Ramsay was the owner of Gavin Ramsay Motorcycles in North Rand Road, Boksburg.