Isle of Man TT rider Daley Mathison has died in a superbike crash.
The Stockton-on-Tees rider was just 27 years old.
His wife, Nat, posted the news on Mathison's Twitter page - also sharing the 'last image' she saw of him.
She wrote: "Not something I ever wanted to write but here we go...
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"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."
Having made his debut in 2014, Mathison was competing in his sixth Isle of Man TT.
During the opening RST Superbike race on Monday morning, he came of his bike on the third lap at Snugborough on the approach to Union Mills.
A red flag was issued and the session ground to an immediate halt.
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Legendary motorbiker Carl Fogarty shared his condolences on social media, saying: "Sad to hear of the death of Daley Mathison in today's tt superbike race. Thoughts are with family and friends."
The race on Monday, the opening race of the Isle of Man TT this year, was won by Peter Hickman and was cut short because of the incident involving Mathison.
It was just lap three when the incident took place with the result from the end of lap two confirming that Hickman had won.
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Hickman, who beat Dean Harrison into second, had won last year's Senior TT with the same man behind him in 2018.
The race was overshadowed by the incident and our condolences are with the family and friends of Daley Mathison.
Words by Jess Hardiman
