Simon Neil Stuart Andrews (14 August 1982 – 19 May 2014) was a British

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. Oth ...

. He competed in the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

for the MSS Kawasaki aboard a Kawasaki ZX10-R and RAF Reserves team, aboard a

Honda CBR1000RR The Honda CBR1000RR, marketed in some countries as the "Fireblade" (capitalized as FireBlade until the 2000s), is a liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder superbike, introduced by Honda in 2004 as the 7th generation of the CBR series of motorcycles ...

. He died as a result of a crash when racing on a road course in Northern Ireland. Simon andrews

Career

British Supersport Championship

Andrews made his British Supersport debut in 2001, and contested the series full-time in 2002. In 2003 he competed in three different championships – British Supersport, British Superstock and AXO European Superstock, earning five BSS podium finishes. In 2004 he came third in BSS, and took tenth overall in 2005. He started 2006 in Supersport again before moving up to the British Superbike Championship midseason with the Jentin Lloyds British team.

British Superbike Championship

In 2007 Andrews finished 16th overall from the nine rounds he contested. In 2008 he ran 3rd for a while at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

before finishing 9th. He scored two top 10 finishes at Donington Park in 2008, despite qualifying down in 24th. In race 2 at

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...

he ran 2nd for several laps on a drying track, but ultimately faded to 7th. He scored 20 top-ten finishes in total, despite being troubled by a knee injury for much of the season For 2009 he left Jentin to join MSS Colchester Kawasaki. Despite injuring his collarbone pre-season he qualified on the front row for round 3 at Donington Park, and took a 4th-place finish at round 4 at Thruxton. Andrews again impressed at

, leading race one before being catapulted out by Josh Brookes in an incident which eliminated seven riders. He was already riding injured at this point, and an operation on his wrist immediately after this round caused him to miss the 3-race meeting at

He took his first career podium at Cadwell Park, finishing 4th on the road but being promoted when on-the-road winner

Leon Camier Leon Stuart Camier (born 4 August 1986) is an English former solo motorcycle racer. For the 2021 season, Camier was announced as team manager for Honda World Superbike team, run under Honda Racing Corporation. After a long career in solo mot ...

was excluded for ignoring a black and orange flag. In race one at the same venue he touched with team-mate Julien da Costa in race one, finishing fifth ahead of the Frenchman. He was successful at Croft despite using no rider aids. He also contested the World Superbike round at Donington, finishing 10th in race 2 after passing the leading works Kawasaki of

Broc Parkes Broc Parkes (born 24 December 1981) is an Australian motorcycle racer, best known for his success in the Supersport World Championship. He currently races in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. During 2015 he raced i ...

. He finished the year by finishing 7th on his debut in the Macau street race. Andrews re-signed for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team for 2009 alongside Gary Mason.

Crash and death

Andrews was airlifted to a hospital in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in critical condition after suffering a serious crash while competing in 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 ...

on Saturday, 17 May 2014. He came off his bike at high speed, slid down the

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

then collided head-first with the

kerb A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. History Although curbs have ...

-edge of a raised footway in

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. After receiving immediate medical intervention from the race doctors and medics, Andrews was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in a critical condition after suffering the high-speed accident on the approach to Metropole corner. Andrews was competing in the second Superstock race of the event aboard his BMW. A statement was released on Sunday night (18 May) by race organisers they said: "Simon Andrews' family are at his bedside in the Intensive Care unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where he remains in a critical condition following his crash in the Superstock race at yesterday's Vauxhall International North West 200." He died in hospital on 19 May 2014 as a result of his injuries, aged 31.

Career statistics

All time

British Supersport Championship

( key) (races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

British Superbike Championship

( key) (races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) :1. – E Denotes riders participating in the Evo class within the

Superbike World Championship

( key) (races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Simon English motorcycle racers British Supersport Championship riders British Superbike Championship riders 1982 births 2014 deaths Isle of Man TT riders Superbike World Championship riders FIM Superstock 1000 Cup riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Worcester, England