Wayne at this year's Tandragee 100 - Photo: Rowland White/Sportsfoto.co.uk
Heartfelt sympathy from Sportsfoto.co.uk to Wayne's parents, brothers, sisters and entire family circle.
According to wikipedia, Wayne Hamilton was the 236th competitor to be killed on the Isle of man Mountain Course since it was first used in 1911. He was also the fifth this year, the others being - Bill Curry (TT), Kevin Morgan (TT), Derek Brien (TT) and Neil Kent (Manx).
This is an enormous death toll given that four competitors were killed last year. We can look back at other years with high fatalities - nine killed in 2005, five in 1999, six in 1997 and six, including Brian Steenson and Santiago Herrero in 1970. This is of course only the tip of the iceberg as records show fatalities in almost every other year (war years excluded). I was present in 1970 and lots of questions were being asked about the continued use of the Mountain Circuit.
In 1972 when Gilberto Parlotti was tragically killed amidst fog on the mountain section it brought a stern response from his friend and countryman Giacomo Agostini who vowed never to race on the Island again and deemed the circuit unsafe for world championship competition. Others joined his boycott and by 1977 the TT had lost its world championship status.
It has been said countless times that riders know the dangers associated with road racing but at 20 years of age, as Wayne Hamilton was, should that decision not lie with a higher authority, preferably the organisation body, be it club or whoever. Extrapolating the list of fatalities on the Mountain Course, it is predictable that there will be more fatalities in the immediate years ahead. That given, surely the organisers are in a position where they are orgainsing an event knowing that not all of the competitors who arrive on the Isle of Man in future will return home alive. A chilling thought if you are one of the organising committee!
On the home front, the North West and Ulster Grand Prix, not to mention the smaller road races like Tandragee, Skerries etc. have had their share of fatalities down through the years. Every fatality brings with it the a broken home and very often leaves a wife without a husband and children without a father.
I know we can argue that other sports are dangerous but 236 fatalities in the Isle of Man speaks volumes and I think that road race organisers must ask themselves serious questions about their role in the whole scheme of things.
Rowland White.