MANX SIDECAR PASSENGER IN PRACTICE TRAGEDY
03 June 2004


A MANX sidecar passenger died just hours after TT organisers issued a warning about passengers falling from their sidecars.



Paul Cowley, 22, of Lincolnshire, apparently lost his grip and slid out of the back of the chair of his DSC Racing Honda 600 at the Black Dub section of the course on the approach to Glen Helen during Wednesday night's practice session.

He was taken to Noble's Hospital and died from his injuries.

Paul, who had lived off the Island since he was 17, was an experienced passenger at British Championship level, but Monday had marked his first ever closed roads lap of the TT with driver Glyn Jones, of Regaby.

During Monday's practice Paul decided to let go of the sidecar, at the slowest part of the course, Ramsey Hairpin, after petrol started to surge through a breather pipe on the run out of Ramsey, covering Paul's upper body, arms and crash helmet.

He had to run after his driver, who hadn't realised he had come off.

They were involved in an incident with another crew on Tuesday which had brought an early end to their practice session, before finally getting up to speed on Wednesday with a 96.83 mph lap.

It was later in that session that Paul came off the sidecar, an incident which was to cost him his life.

At scrutineering that evening, sidecar crews had been issued with a written notice by Caroline Etherington, secretary of the meeting, urging them to take extra care following a higher number of accidents than usual involving sidecar passengers and drivers – see today's Manx Independent.