Martin Finnegan (8 October 1979 – 3 May 2008)''Isle of Man Examiner'' pp2 dated 6 May 2008 was an Irish motorcycle racer.

Career

Born in Lusk, County Dublin, Finnegan took up riding at a young age. At first he went grass track racing where he tasted success. In his later teens his boss at the time, Tony Carton, offered Martin the lend of a bike to try his hand at circuit racing. They went out that day and Martin did almost 100 laps and caught the bug. A winner of 43 Irish road races since 1997, in addition to winning the 2000 Junior Newcomers Manx Grand Prix, Finnegan scored a podium at the

2005 Isle of Man TT The 2005 Isle of Man TT Festival was the 98th run and took place between Saturday 28 May and Friday 10 June on the 37.73 mile (60.72 km) Snaefell mountain course, Mountain course. The first week (between 28 May and 3 June) is known ...

where he became the fastest Irishman to lap the course at over 127 mph. At the 2007 Isle of Man TT, Finnegan brought back to racing at competitive level on the Island the iconic Italian MV Agusta brand in the TT Superstock race, where he missed the podium reaching the 4th place on board of an F4 bike.

Death and inquest

Finnegan died in Tandragee, Northern Ireland, in 2008 whilst competing in the Supersport race at the

Tandragee 100 Tandragee () is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Cusher River, in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower. It had a population of 3,486 people in the 2011 Censu ...

race meeting. As he approached a corner, his front

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

failed. Whilst trying to stop the bike, his rear wheel hit a bump in the road which flipped Finnegan and his bike into a bank.

Ryan Farquhar Ryan Alan Robert Farquhar (born 2 February 1976, Dungannon, Northern Ireland) is a professional motorcycle racer who primarily competes in road racing. Farquhar won the Dukes Road Racing Rankings four times. He won five races at the Cooks ...

, who was directly behind Finnegan on the track, said that the rear tyre of Finnegan's bike was covered in oil. On 7 May 2008, Finnegan's funeral took place in his hometown of Lusk. About 2,000 motorcyclists travelled to Lusk to attend. On 9 January 2012, the inquest into his death commenced. It was stated that after the crash a banjo bolt on the bike was found to be loose, however his mechanics and race scrutineers maintained that the bolt was tight before the start of the race and so could not have caused the brake failure which led to the crash. Instead, it was suggested by the scrutineer that brake knock-back was "the only logical explanation". Farquhar doubted that knock back was the cause, stating that he had not experienced it in over 500 races. The following day,

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

John Leckey delivered the verdict, stating "Having carefully considered all the evidence in conjunction with the agreed position of the experts, I am able to conclude that, on the balance of probabilities, the loose banjo bolt was the cause of failure of the front brake."

Legacy

In 2009,

Adrian Archibald Adrian James Archibald (born 1969) is a motorcycle racer from Northern Ireland. Archibald, who was born in Ballymoney, has three career wins in the Isle of Man TT, including two races in 2003 riding for TAS Suzuki. The 2003 races were overshado ...

received the inaugural Martin Finnegan Trophy for achieving the fastest lap by an Irishman at the Isle of Man TT.

Michael Dunlop Michael Dunlop (born 10 April 1989) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle racer. Part of a motorcycle racing dynasty, Michael is the brother of the late William Dunlop, son of Robert and nephew of former World Champion Joey Dunlop. He ...

then won the award for two consecutive years in 2010 and 2011.

Winners of the Martin Finnegan Trophy

References

External links