Isle of Man TT rider's ashes taken on emotional lap of the course in tribute

Hundreds of bikers gathered at the TT Grandstand on Friday morning for a poignant tribute to late rider Daniel Ingham.

Ingham, the 2024 Senior Manx Grand Prix winner, died during qualifying for this year’s Isle of Man TT in May.

His wife, Helayna, completed the Mountain Course on the back of a travelling marshal’s bike, carrying Daniel’s ashes with her.

The tribute lap completed the lap Daniel started on May 27 but never got to finish.

There was a slight delay to proceedings after the Mountain Road was closed due to an oil spill, but they managed to set off at quarter past 11.

Friends, fellow competitors and supporters from across the road racing community turned out in large numbers to support Helayna and Daniel’s family.

Jim Hunter, who helped organise the tribute, said he was overwhelmed by the response as we spoke to him before the lap.

Speaking at the Grandstand ahead of the lap, Mr Huntter said: ‘When you say organised, all I actually did was put one post on Facebook, and all of these people have turned out because we're all thinking about Helayna,’ he said.

‘She’s going to do the lap on the back of my marshal's bike, and she's got Dan's ashes in her rucksack.

‘What she wanted to do is complete Dan's lap. So we started it on Wednesday, the 27th of May. [He] didn't finish it, obviously, and so we put that right.’

Mr Hunter said the turnout showed the strength of the motorcycle racing community.

‘It’s pretty staggering to see the turnout,’ he said.

‘It just shows what the motorcycling community is – this is it. And it's just tremendous.’

He said the significance of the occasion would extend beyond those gathered at the Grandstand.

‘I’m sure that when Helayna gets home and she has the opportunity to show her children, Joey and Phoebe, what people think of their dad, it'll make it all worthwhile,’ he said.