A MOTORCYCLE racer who died in a 120 mph crash at one of the leading bike meets in the north would have had less than a second to react when his vehicle started to shake violently.

An inquest in Northallerton was told 38 year old Steven Hix was in the lead in the last race of the day at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough in July when his bike landed after a jump and went into a “tank slapper” - where the wheels veering from side to side.

Fellow racer Adam Child said normally you would accelerate out of this but he would already have been going as fast as he could.

“95 times out of 100 the bike will go through it, unfortunately it seemed to get worse and worse. It was a race so he would have been going as fast as he could,” said Mr Child.

Mr Hix, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, came off the bike coming to rest 51 metres from the track.

He died in Scarborough Hospital from multiple injuries. TC Graham McCulloch said the bikes were going between 120mph and 140mph.

“He would have had less than a second to react and he has been unable to control his vehicle despite his best efforts,” he added.

Coroner Michael Oakley said Mr Hix was an experienced rider and although he did not know Oliver’s Mount well he had ridden the day before. He recorded a verdict of accidental death.