Motorcycle road racing has lost a good friend and loyal supporter with the passing of Fred Adlem on Sunday.

Fred was heavily involved with both the Southern 100 and Manx Grand Prix, but also played a part in the running of the TT.

He joined the Manx Motor Cycle Club committee in 1990 as deputy clerk of the works to Dennis Corkill for the MGP, and his last event was in 2008 when holding the position of course maintenance officer.

In 2009 he resigned from the committee and was made an honorary vice-president of the club.

He continued to help in pit lane during practice and race sessions.

Fred was also a familiar face at Billown for the past three decades or more, having become a director of Southern 100 Motorcycle Cub in 1991 until retiring at the end of 2000.

He was deputy clerk of works for seven years from 1989, after which he took over as club steward for another period until 2002, when he took a sabbatical to concentrate on his business activities.

Ever-affable, Fred returned to the team in 2012 as part of the race control team for four years.

He continued to attended the various race meetings and helped looking after the guests during the Southern 100 each July up to and including 2019.

Fred was instrumental in a lot of fund-raising with the patrons of the Queens Hotel, Laxey for clubs and individual local riders.

He was also involved behind the scenes for the TT and spent a lot of time with the late Mike Dean on course preparation/inspection work.