Isle of Man TT road racer Daley Mathison has died after a horror crash at the circuit.
Mathison, 27, was involved in an incident on lap three of the RST Superbike race on Monday, in the opening race of the 2019 event.
The race was immediately red-flagged, and his heartbroken wife, Natalie confirmed he had passed away in an emotional message on his Twitter page.
She wrote: "Not something I ever wanted to write but here we go.
"Daley, as Daisy says, is now sleeping with the fairies. That’s all I can bring myself to say right now.
"The last image I saw of my husband, was of a man so happy with life and so proud of his racing."
Race organisers ACU Events Ltd issued a statement shortly confirm the tragic news.
It declared: “ACU Events Ltd regrets to confirm that Daley Mathison, 27, from Stockton-on-Tees, Durham was killed in an incident during the Superbike Race today at the Isle of Man TT Races.
"The accident occurred at Snugborough, just over two miles into the course, on the 3rd lap of the race.
“Daley was an experienced competitor and was seeded 19th for today’s race. He made his Mountain Course debut in the 2013 Manx Grand Prix Newcomers A Race, finishing fifth.
"His TT career included three consecutive podiums in the TT Zero electric bike Race in 2016, 2017 and 2018 including the runner up position in the race last year, representing Nottingham University.
“He also achieved an 11th place finish in last year’s Superstock Race and a pair of 13th place finishes in the 2017 and 2018 Senior TT Races.
“He set his fastest lap of the Mountain Course - 128.054mph - in the 2018 Superstock race which made him the 34th fastest rider of all time. He set the second fastest TT Zero lap ever with lap of 119.294mph in the 2018 race.
“In total he started 19 TT Races with 14 finishes and 3 podiums and won 6 silver and 8 bronze replicas
“ACU Events Ltd wishes to pass on their deepest sympathy to Daley’s wife Natalie, his family and friends.”
The 37.7 mile race had been scheduled to take place on Saturday but strong winds and patches of thick mist caused it to be moved to Monday.
The shortened race was won by Peter Hickman, with the result declared based on the timings at the end of the second lap, but it was Mathison's tragic death which overshadowed the event.
Dean Harrison finished in second place ahead of Conor Cummins, James Hillier, Michael Rutter and Michael Dunlop.
Mathison's death at the event comes after two riders, Adam Lyon and Dan Kneen, were killed during crashes last year.
A total of 34 riders have lost their lives on the infamous Isle of Man Mountain Course in the last 10 years.
It is currently unknown if the Penz13 BMW team for whom Mathison had been running will continue in the upcoming STK and Senior races this week with colleague Davey Todd.
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