Martin Finnegan's accident

I was at the race at Tandragee and witnessed the horrific accident which Martin Finnegan was involved in.

As Martin was coming forward towards the right hand corner which really is a T junction his motorcycle locked up about 50 or 60 metres from the turn. He made really good work keeping the bike upright and straight and was really fighting with it hard to keep it inline.

The bike seemed to free for a second but only gained speed in doing so – it really seemed to make the bike harder to control.

The bike then locked again and went straight on at the corner and hit the high banking and sent Martin into the field hitting some spectators standing next to us.

At the time we thought it was only two spectators that got hit but we have learned since the number was three. Paramedics were there instantly and we could see them working tirelessly to save the lives of these people.

The PSNI were also there in seconds and started getting everyone away from the scene.

It was very traumatic for the couple of hundred people that were there. Most of the people that I had been talking to seemed to form the same conclusion as myself – that the accident was caused by a motorcycle malfuction.

When the marshals and police were removing the bike they had to keep the back wheel off the ground as it was not turning.

People were really shocked. It was very tragic and not nice to witness.