An inquest into the death of a popular Manx TT rider has been adjourned while the coroner tries to obtain more evidence.
Dan Kneen who was 30 and lived in Onchan, died at the scene after an accident at Churchtown shortly after the start of the Wednesday evening practice session on May 30.
When his inquest reopened on Friday, evidence was heard from marshals who witnessed the accident as well as vehicle examiners who had checked his bike before and after the accident.
But Mr Kneen’s father, Richard, himself a former Manx Grand Prix and TT racer, queried the absence of any electronic data from Dan’s Tyco BMW1000RR which, he said, could shed more light on the cause of the accident.
Mr Kneen senior told the court, having examined the skid marks, he felt his son was ’not that far off the correct line’.
He also said the family were told the data from the bike had been downloaded and would be presented at the inquest.
’It would need someone independent to interpret it, but if it gives that tiny bit of closure, we would like it to be found,’ he said.
Coroner John Needham heard evidence in the form of written statements, read out in court, from marshals at the scene.
The court heard Mr Kneen, riding the number 8 bike left the grandstand around 6.20pm with starting partner Michael Rutter.
When he reached Churchtown, around 10 minutes later, he was leading on the road, around half a second ahead of Dean Harrison.
Flag marshal Vanessa McHugh said she thought Mr Kneen’s BMW seemed slightly wrongly positioned on the road, nearer to the left hand side than the others.
Her partner, deputy sector marshal, Craig McHugh, agreed, adding Mr Kneen had to lean the bike over further to compensate, and as he did so the wheel lost traction and slid away.
Mr Harrison, who was following on bike number 5, said the bikes would have been travelling at about 170mph at that point on the course, when he saw Mr Kneen run ’slightly wide’ after the so-called K-tree, creating a greater lean angle for the rider.
’There is a road camber at that point and he lost control, sliding to the left hand side hedge,’ he said. ’Bits of debris hit me. I am gutted to have lost him and I respected him as a fellow TT rider.’
The bike came to rest in nearby trees and caught fire and Mr Kneen himself ended up in the Ramsey-bound carriageway.
The session was red flagged and brought to a halt.
The court heard evidence that the BMW was passed as fit for racing by race scrutineers before the practice session and a government vehicle examiner who examined the wreckage said there were no obvious pre-crash defects.
A post mortem examination by pathologist Dr Ervine Long, confirmed Mr Kneen had died from multiple injuries.
Adjourning the hearing, Mr Needham told the court enquiries would be made to find out if electronic data from the bike were available.
This data could show information such as speed, gear selected and engine revs at the time of the accident, and could therefore offer further insight into why it happened.