Allan David Jefferies (18 September 1972 – 29 May 2003) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

. He died after crashing during practice for the 2003 Isle of Man TT races.

Early life

The son of Tony Jefferies, also a former

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

winner in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, David Jefferies was born in

Shipley, West Yorkshire Shipley is a historic market town and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford. The population of the Shipley ward on Bradford City Council taken at ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His uncle was fellow TT winner Nick Jefferies. Jefferies attended Salt Grammar School.

Career

Jefferies competed in a range of racing classes including the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

world championship in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, and the

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. He was the British Superstock 1000 champion twice in the previous three years. Jefferies specialized in

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

s, such as the

and the

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a Northern Irish motorsport event established in 1929 for road racing motorcycles held on a street circuit known as ''the Triangle'' between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast ...

, where he was a four-time winner. At the Isle of Man TT, Jefferies was the first rider to lap in excess of and the first to win three races during the week-long festival for three consecutive years. He also set the absolute lap record for the Isle of Man TT course during the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Senior TT at 17min 47sec, an average speed of .

Death

Jefferies died on Thursday, May 29, 2003, during practice week for the 2003 Isle of Man TT. The turn at Crosby is a shallow left-hand turn taken at speeds of around 160 mph; on the outside of the turn there are stone walls at the front of gardens. Jefferies approached the turn on his TAS Racing GSX-R1000, following a lap of 125 mph average speed (the fastest in that practice week). Jefferies reportedly hit the wall of number 29 Woodlea Villas bordering the turn before he and his machine were hurled back across the circuit, taking lumps of debris across the road and bringing down a telephone pole in the process. Jefferies was killed instantly upon impact with the wall. In the aftermath of the crash, fellow rider Jim Moodie did not have enough time to brake when he reached the scene and rode into the telegraph lines which were hanging across the road due to the incident;three of the lines snapped; however, one came over his motorcycle's windscreen and nearly killed him when it wrapped round his throat; it snapped at the last minute and Moodie escaped with his life; however, he retired from TT competition shortly afterwards. A friend and fellow TT competitor, John McGuinness, who was the first rider to reach the scene, described it as looking 'Like a war zone'. Later that day, the TT organisers released an official statement which read: 'It is with regret that the organizers of the Isle of Man TT races, the Auto-Cycle Union, announce that David Jefferies, of Baildon in West Yorkshire, who crashed on the second lap of this afternoon's practice session, received injuries, which proved fatal. Thirty-year-old Jefferies was involved in an accident at Crosby. The red flag was displayed at the Grandstand and all riders finishing their first lap were brought back into the paddock. Those who had already embarked on their second lap were Halted at Glen Vine. Jefferies was the outright lap record holder at the TT and had lapped at 125 mph on his first lap today riding his Temple Auto Salvage GSX-R Suzuki. The organisers have instituted an immediate inquiry into the details of the incident.' The inquiry would become an extremely controversial affair; organizers insisted that marshals had carried out the correct duties during the incident while riders protested saying that not enough flags were shown and the manner in which those that were shown did not imply the seriousness of the situation at hand. The parade lap in honour of Jefferies took place at the end of the TT weekend. Thousands of bikes took part, filling the 37-mile course.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1993 onwards: (

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Official siteDavid Jefferies Tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferies, David 1972 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Shipley, West Yorkshire British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders British Superbike Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in the Isle of Man FIM Superstock 1000 Cup riders