Owen McNally lived and died on the circuit. Raised beside the North West 200 course in Antrim, Ireland's brightest motorcycling talent was killed in the Ulster Grand Prix when his machine crashed on the final lap. He was the third rider to die in Ireland this summer. Danny Robinson was killed in May and Philip Conroy died in July.
Sadly the life support machine of Waterford's Tony Carey was turned off after he suffered serious head injuries in a crash at the Carrowdore 100 races. Carey's was the fourth death in Ireland in the worst summer of tragedy in racing memory.
In the aftermath the Irish Sports Council, who last year gave the Motorcycle Union of Ireland (MCU) a grant of £22,650, called on the 32 county body to set up an immediate and independent inquiry into the deaths.
"Yes, I am shocked," said chief executive John Treacy. "It is unacceptable. We are taking these tragedies in the sport very seriously. I have spoken to the Motorcycle Union. They are also in a state of shock. I've asked them to set up an inquiry straight away."
Of the four tragedies McNally's had a certain poignancy because of his immense talent. His death again emphasised the wildly indiscriminate nature of the sport. Still in his 20s and the best Irish racer on 125cc and 250cc machines, he was one of a very small band of riders tipped to become the next Joey Dunlop, who at 47 is regarded the best road circuit racer in the world.
The two riders were also very close, sharing time in the paddock, joking and talking set ups and circuits. Both from the same part of the country McNally was the young bright spark with enormous potential, Dunlop legendary and gruff.
Seven days before he died McNally had won four races in the north Monaghan circuit around the village of Glaslough. In his first move into the bigger 600 class he had broken the lap record, winning the race by three seconds.
The following week at the Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod, the rider, rounding the last corner to begin the final lap in the junior race, lost control at over 130 mph. McNally was thrown heavily over the left hand side of the bike and through a hedge before coming to a sudden halt against a bank. The young man went from 130 mph to zero over a distance of just three feet. The event was stopped and in a sad twist of irony McNally technically became the race winner. He died six days later leaving a wife Tonia and two children Laura and Gary.
Phillip Mc Callen, like many of the top racers in the country, has survived many falls. It's part of racing life. Not so long ago he suffered a broken back in a crash and won't race this year. He is undecided about next season but knows that if he falls again he could end his days in a wheelchair.
The legend Dunlop has a finger missing and his brother Robert is an amalgam of plates and screws having been flicked into a stone wall in the Isle of Man at 100 mph. Being the best in the world holds no immunity.
"You try not to dwell on it. It's the sad side of the sport. It affects everyone," says McCallen. "To do those speeds on those tracks you have to be a single-minded person. That's the difference between winners and losers."
"Most people accept that it could happen some day but believe that it won't happen to you. It's very sad. While you accept it might happen you hope and pray that it won't. Sport is sport. It's dangerous. It's a one-way commitment," he says. "You have to have the full support of your family and your team . They have to be behind you all the way."
McCallen's attitude is typical of racers. To say the sport doesn't care is inaccurate and alienating but it is also fiercely protective of its freedoms. The riders are not just participants but part of a whole vibrant life that surrounds the racing. They will go to extraordinary lengths to compete.
The public also seem to sense the inevitability of the dangers. In Britain there was a media outcry when a rider at the Burghley Trials died when his horse fell on top of him. He too was the fourth to die in as many months. In Ireland the four racing deaths have passed virtually unnoticed.
"There are three ways that things go wrong," says McCallen, "and I've had each one of them. There is the will to win where you might just push it that bit too much, there is rider error where you just make a mistake and that's it and there's mechanical failure which you can do nothing about."
Sean Bisset, president of the MCU points out that they do everything they can to make the track, bikes and riders as safe as possible. From leathers and helmets to riders ability are all considered factors.
"You can't just jump on a bike and race on the roads," he says. "You've first to join a club then have around a year of short circuit racing over five different circuits. After each of those a card has to be signed by the race clerk saying how may laps and what speed the rider attained.
"Then the rider can apply to upgrade and that maybe accepted or denied. They then go on the roads for a year as a support rider and are limited to 750cc machines. Owen McNally would have been riding for eight or nine years and was only close to the pinnacle now."
Still Bisset acknowledges little can be done to stop riders making errors or cutting out the catastrophic failures that makes engines seize at 140 mph. In formula One, they step out of the smoking car with their beloved steering wheel. On a Honda or Ducati they fall off and their lives hang on the quality of their leathers, helmet and luck.
The phenomenal power of the bikes is also a recognised factor. If Dunlop took his RC45 Honda to Dublin's O'Connell street and accelerated from out side the Gresham Hotel towards Trinity College, he would be easily touching 150 mph by Bewleys Cafe on Westmoreland Street and gearing down to round the bend at Trinity's front gates.
Accelerating towards Grafton Street his problem would be to keep the bike from flipping up and somersaulting backwards such is the power generated to the back wheel. Ordinary riders couldn't ride his machine. At Dundrod this year Dunlop was clocked at 181 mph, David Jeffries at 184 mph and Gary Dynes at 185 mph. Their average speed was around 124 mph, all of it carried out inches from road signs and telegraph poles.
Racing is also big money with the North West 200 particularly important to the local economy. The North West is one of the major attractions of the summer in Antrim and attracts about 150,000 people, almost three times that of The Isle of Man TT. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board are a sponsor of the event and have been for a number of years. This year they contributed £3,000.
"The event does generate a considerable number of bed nights which from a tourist point of view is obviously very good for tourism in the area," said spokeswoman Mo Durkan.
"Our sponsorship is constantly under review all the time anyway although up until now it has not been necessary to consider what happened this summer. At the review any number of criteria can be taken on board. But our priority is the safety of tourists. The risk the riders take is an integral part of the sport and is taken by them."
The motorcycle companies have also a vested interest in having their machines perform well by the elite riders. Dunlop won the Tom Heron memorial Trophy for the fifth time at this year's Ulster Grand Prix. In recognition of this achievement UK Honda General Manager Bob McMillan told him he could keep the £50,000 RC45 machine. Tyre manufacturers Dunlop (no relation) sent over a 40 foot truck and four technicians solely to look after the Ballymoney rider's needs.
"If we did not continue to run the sport it would go black," says Bisset. "You'd have guys racing on roads. We'll do everything to make it safer even if it means slowing them down. Yes, we will investigate what happened and if it needs change, we'll make change," he says.
These past few years McCallen's mother has been reminding him that he has had a "few injuries", more in jest than anything. He says road racing has the highest safety level it has ever had but unfortunately there will always be accidents. He says that Joey Dunlop is the exception to all the rules.
"He proves it is possible," says McCallen, "to win races and stay alive."
