Martin Finnegan (8 October 1979 – 3 May 2008) was an Irish

motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

Career

Born in

Lusk, County Dublin Lusk () is a town in County Dublin, Ireland. Sometimes described as a village, Lusk is located about north of Dublin city centre. Lusk is in a townland and civil parish of the same name, in the barony of Balrothery East. As of the 2022 census ...

, 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 Finnegan the lend of a bike to try his hand at circuit racing. They went out that day and Finnegan 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 Mountain course. The first week (between 28 May and 3 June) is known as the practice week, before the real action was due to co ...

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 Italian

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is an Italian high end motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded by Domenico Agusta, Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of ...

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 Tandragee () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is on a hillside above the Cusher River, and is overlooked by Tandragee Castle. The town is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Ballymore, County Armagh, Ballymore and t ...

, Northern Ireland, in 2008 whilst competing in the Supersport race at the Tandragee 100 race meeting. As he approached a corner, his front

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

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 former motorcycle sport, professional motorcycle racer who primarily competed in road racing. Farquhar won the Geoff Duke Trophy as Champion of the Duke Road Ra ...

, 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

scrutineer A scrutineer (also called a poll-watcher or a challenger in the United States) is a person who observes any process that requires rigorous oversight. Scrutineers are responsible for preventing corruption and detecting genuine mistakes and problem ...

s 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 the manner or cause of death. The official may also 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 oversha ...

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 road racer and the record holder for the number of wins and podiums at the prestigious Isle of Man TT, having amassed a total of 33 victories and having stood o ...

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

Winners of the Martin Finnegan Trophy

References

External links