The ISLE of Man TT orginnisers have admitted they got the name of the one of the riders who lost his life last weekend wrong.
It was announced last Saturday that French passenger Olivier Lavorel had passed away in a sidecar race, but it has now been revealed that the person who lost his life was his team-mate Cesar Chanal who had been taken to the hospital at the time.
STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE ISLE OF MAN TT RACES pic.twitter.com/Z8ePhFHekS
— Isle of Man TT Races (@ttracesofficial) June 8, 2022
Now a statement released has clarified that it was Chanal who died. Lavorel remains in a critical condition in hospital in Liverpool.
Both competitors families have been informed of the mixup.
The statement read: "On Saturday, June 4 during the opening lap of the first Sidecar Race of the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races, an accident at Ago's Leap involving outfit number 21 of Cesar Channel and Olivier Lavorel resulted in the death of one of the competitors.
"The race was stopped with the deployment of full-course red flags and medical personnel, a traveling marshal and the emergency services were immediately dispatched to the scene.
"One of the competitors sustained injuries that would not support life and was sadly declared dead at the scene. The second competitor was unconscious with severe injuries.
"The injured competitor was treated at the roadside before being transferred to Noble's Hospital, and then airlifted to a specialist hospital in Liverpool to receive treatment.
"An initial identification procedure was conducted using established procedures and would appear to have resulted in a mistaken identification.
"We now believe it was Cesar Chanal who died at the scene of the accident on Saturday, June 4. Olivier remains in a critical condition and continues to receive treatment.
"Both competitors' families have been informed.
"A thorough review of the processes relating to the identification of competitors will take place in due course.
"Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of both Olivier and Cesar at this truly devastating time."
There were two other deaths at this year's festival. Northern Ireland's Davy Morgan died after an accident in Monday's Supersport Race and Welsh rider Mark Purslow died in qualifying last week
The family of Welsh rider Mark Purslow have said they are "beyond heartbroken" after his death following a crash at the 2022 Isle of Man TT races.https://t.co/mhqtMwLtGh
— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) June 2, 2022
