Liam Beckett, who was Robert’s mechanic for 22 years, was on his way to York Corner to observe how he was braking.

“I got the call to say there had been an accident, a bad one, at Mathers,” he said.

“Then I got another call to say Robert was involved but that he was just battered and bruised. Then another call came in that said he was in hospital.”

Speaking from Robert’s home, Mr Beckett said the Ballymoney area had lost a “favoured son” who, until Thursday, had come through countless serious accidents.

“His family are in pieces because ‘the wean’ is dead,” he said.

“The whole country’s in mourning today but spare a thought for (Robert’s mother) May and (wife) Louise.

“My heart does go out to them, particularly his mummy, but I have no doubt that they will come through this because they are a very resilient family.

“He defied all the odds to live when he crashed at the Isle of Man in 1994 - that was his second time on a life support machine but he came back and actually raced again.

“People often forget that since that crash in ’94, all those NW 200s he won were effectively won with one arm because he hadn’t the full use of one of his arms.”

Pointing out that the Dunlops did not come from a wealthy family, Mr Beckett said that Joey and Robert had often won on bikes which were markedly inferior to their competitors.

It was their sheer talent which brought them so much success, he said.

“They weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouths,” he said. “We used to sleep rough in the vans and I mean rough. And the food was rough too. But we had some great times.

“But when you saw Robert in the town he was indistinguishable from anyone else.

“He was a country person and you would have seen him walking down the street in old torn trousers. It’s just terribly sad.”