Motorbike sponsor injured at race

A MAJOR patron of motorcycling in Ireland is in a stable condition in hospital following a crash at the Skerries 100 event at the weekend.

Milton Thom (70) suffered serious facial burns when he was sprayed with burning fuel from a motorbike which was involved in a collision at the north Co Dublin race, the biggest event of its kind in the Republic every year.

Mr Thom is the owner of the Royal Hotel in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, and is the major sponsor of the Cookstown 100, one of the North’s biggest races.

The accident happened during the last race of Saturday’s event at Duke’s Bend between the Dublin Road and Balgungan in Skerries.

One biker, Gary Johnson from Lincolnshire, suffered a broken collarbone in the accident while a second rider, Michael Weldon from Swords, escaped with minor injuries.

The force of the collision dislodged the engine on one of the motorbikes which then caught fire and sprayed fuel over Mr Thom.

Paramedics attended to him before he was taken to Beaumont Hospital and later transferred to St James’s Hospital’s burns unit, where he is in a stable condition.

Some 20,000 spectators attended Saturday’s event. The Skerries 100 has been running for over 60 years. Saturday’s crash was the third major crash at an Irish motorbike race this year.

In May, Martin Finnegan, a member of the Loughshinny Motorcycles Supporters’ Club which hosted the Skerries 100, was killed at a race meeting in Antrim. Robert Dunlop, brother of Joey Dunlop who was killed in 2000, died following a crash at the North West 200, also in May.

Motorcycling Ireland president Seán Bissett said everything was done at the Skerries 100 to ensure participants and fans were safe.

“We are always looking to make it safer. We have safety seminars for riders and for marshals. Our medical team would be the equivalent of an AE. Mr Thom was treated quickly,” he said.