Concerns have been raised over a damp patch on the TT course in an area which claimed the life of one Manx Grand Prix (MGP) rider and left another badly injured.

Louis O'Regan, 43, died in a crash just before Kate's Cottage on the A18 Mountain Road during the opening qualifying session of the MGP on August 18, 2024.

Fellow competitor Jamie Williams came off on the same stretch of road two hours earlier.

An inquest has been held this week into the death of Mr O’Regan, of Didcot in Oxon, England, at Douglas Courthouse which has been attended by the victim’s family.

Mr Williams lost control on the same bend as Mr O’Regan on the approach to Kate’s Cottage. He was rushed to hospital and suffered extensive injuries.

He told the inquest this week he had been competing on the course since 2016.

Mr Williams, who has now largely recovered from his injuries, said he never had a problem at Kate’s Cottage before. He said riders were aware of damp at Ramsey Hairpin and around Glen Helen but Kate’s Cottage had not been mentioned.

He told the inquest that on approaching Kate’s Cottage: ‘The back wheel lost grip which caused aggressive shaking. I did not know what had caused it.

‘I was surprised as that had never happened to me on that corner before.’

Mr Williams ended up hitting the bank on the right and was catapulted into the air.

He said: ‘There was no trying to prevent the crash. It happened so quickly.

‘The road condition there was not great and there was damp. Kate’s Cottage has never been an accident black spot.

‘In my opinion I did nothing wrong that day [to cause the crash]. The rear wheel slipped because of lack of adhesion on the road.

‘If there had been a warning about it that would have dramatically reduced the chance of an accident.’

Kate’s Cottage marshal Lisa Young was in charge of the flags that day. She confirmed the marshals were aware of the damp patch there.

Ms Young said: ‘I had observed water seeping through the tarmac and it has been mentioned and reported since I first marshalled there in 2022. But I cannot recall if it had been reported that year.’

She told the inquest she normally only sees a couple of riders wobble at that bend but ‘lost count’ of the numbers who wobbled that day.

She said: ‘What I saw cause the wobble was the water but I can’t recall if that had been assessed beforehand.’

Ms Young also told the inquest she was ‘surprised’ practice restarted after Mr Williams crashed.

Deputy sector marshal Andrew Gale was in charge of the marshals at the Kate’s Cottage section.

He told the inquest he was concerned something was wrong when Mr O’Regan did not lean over enough on the bend.

He added: ‘Mr O’Regan was hesitant to lean over by which time it was too late.’

He confirmed the damp patch at Kate’s Cottage had been discussed previously. But he explained the damp patch was not considered on the racing line and ‘not deemed an issue’ by race control.

Deputy Clerk of the Course John Barton told the inquest there are three different checks of the course before racing or practices can take place. The clerk or the deputy goes round in a car before travelling marshals head round on motorbikes while sector marshals carry out further checks on foot.

He said: ‘Kate’s Cottage is generally in good condition surface-wise but historically has damp patches after rain.’

But despite what marshals at Kate’s Cottage claim about the matter being reported, Mr Barton insisted no report was received.

He said: ‘What normally happens is that marshals will radio through concerns to the chief sector marshal who will then radio race control. They will then ask the travelling marshals to take a look.

‘But there were no reports made to me about Kate’s Cottage that day and I don’t know if a warning flag was used.’

Mr Barton admitted if he had known about the damp he would have taken action.

He said: ‘With damp patches you have to take into account the size, whether they are on the racing line, what speed competitors will be going and the angle the bike will be.

‘Had I seen the damp patch at Kate’s Cottage I would have issued a warning flag for rain after Mr Williams’s crash but I would still have restarted the session.’

Chief sector marshal Mark Johnstone also gave evidence and admitted Kate’s Cottage had never been a problem before.

He said: ‘In all my time as a chief sector marshal there has never been an incident at Kate’s Cottage.

‘It was only after Mr O’Regan’s crash that I was told about others twitching on that part of the course.

‘After Mr Williams’s crash I did ask a marshal at Keppel Gate to put out a “lack of adhesion” flag. I don’t know if that happened but I have no reason to think it didn’t.’

Mr Johnstone admitted that, on closer inspection after Mr O’Regan’s crash, he was not happy with the road conditions. The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) Events got contractors in to carry out overbanding work (sealing cracks in the road with heated tape) on the damp patch on August 21, 2024.

He also revealed the radios in that area sometimes lose signal and said ‘messages can be missed’.

Christian Gunson is an experienced motorcycle competitor and was at the MGP as a spectator at Keppel Gate.

He believes Mr O’Regan was suffering mechanical issues just prior to the crash.

He told the inquest: ‘O’Regan attracted my attention as he was slowing down more than normal. The engine seemed to be misfiring and sounded a bit flat.’

Mr Gunson told the inquest riders would normally veer to the right to take the racing line but Mr O’Regan stayed left.

He added: ‘I then saw a big plume of smoke. Everything went silent and I thought he had broken down but the red flag went up.

Former police officer and collision investigator Steffan Hoy provided a report after looking into the two crashes.

He believes Mr O’Regan had ridden over the damp patch but he could not say with any certainty how much that contributed to the collision.

He also explained that the water was mixed in with peat which made it ‘soapy’. He explained that the patch was small and not within the exact racing line but was ‘within the margins’.

He also said that while Mr O’Regan was in second gear at the time, that did not necessarily mean the back wheel had locked.

An examination of Mr O’Regan’s Agusta MV motorcycle found the bike was free from mechanical defects.

A postmortem carried out concluded Mr O’Regan died of ‘multiple injuries’ following the collision.

In a statement, the Department of Infrastructure’s director of highways Gary Saunders said responsibility for the course being in a safe condition for road racing lies with the ACU Events who will identify any work on the TT Course that needs to be carried out.

He added that resurfacing work in the Keppel Gate area was carried out last year but that was general work and not related specifically to racing.

In his submissions, the advocate representing Mr O’Regan’s family John Aycock urged Deputy Coroner Rebecca Cubbon to consider a verdict of accidental death over one of misadventure.

Ms Cubbon is due to deliver her verdict on Friday.