A PROFESSIONAL motorbike racer who died after coming off his bike at a major Thruxton race sustained ‘unsurvivable injuries’ at the scene, a coroner has said.

Ex-Royal Marine Mark Fincham died after being thrown off his bike during a race in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 at Thruxton Circuit on Sunday, 6 August last year.

The 37-year-old was an amputee following a motor accident in 2007 and was a member of the True Heroes Racing team, which gives injured former military personnel competitive motorsport experience.

A report from teammate Jim Walker, read out at Mr Fincham’s inquest this morning, said Mr Walker was riding close behind Mr Fincham and was travelling about 40 to 60mph.

He said he saw Mr Fincham’s rear tyre spin out and the motorcyclist was flung off his bike and Mr Walker had “nowhere to go” but in to the path of Mr Fincham.

Mr Walker, who also came off his machine, said: “There was just nothing I could do to avoid him.”

Mr Fincham was coming round a bend, known as Club Chicane, in his third lap before ‘high-siding’, senior coroner Grahame Short heard at Winchester Coroner’s Court.

The court heard Mr Fincham’s acceleration round the chicane caused him to high-side, where the rear tire loses traction on the track, skids and then regains traction, forcing the rider to flip off the bike.

In another report, Marc Naughton, one of the first responders to the incident, said Mr Fincham was unconscious and that CPR was being performed as he arrived.

Mr Fincham was taken to the track’s medical centre but medics were unable to revive him.

The inquest also recorded the weather on the day was fine and dry, and both motorbikes and clothing had passed safety testing during the weekend.

A non-invasive examination showed Mr Fincham had suffered “significant” multiple injuries to his pelvis, spine and ribs.

In conclusion, Mr Short said crashes from high-speed racing were ‘relatively common and inevitable’ but that most were recoverable.

However Mr Short added: “Sadly in this case the injuries were unsurvivable and therefore [Mr Fincham] died as a result of his injuries.”

He believed most of Mr Fincham’s injuries came as a result of the first impact on the track but that the second impact from his teammate was also a factor.

He concluded by ruling the incident as an accidental death and offered his condolences to Mr Fincham’s family.