Motorcycle 'malfunction' led to William Dunlop's fatal crash at Skerries 100 in 2018, inquest hears

That is according to a forensic collision report, which was outlined during a pre-hearing of the full inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court.

A highly successful competitor who won races at the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix, the 32-year-old Ballymoney man was riding a 1000cc Yamaha R1 motorcycle for the Lisburn-based Mar-Train Racing Team, owned by Tim and Sonya Martin, when the tragedy unfolded.

Lawyers for the team say a more accurate description of what occurred is that there was ‘damage sustained’ to the machine prior to the incident, which happened during practice at the Irish National road race in County Dublin on Saturday, July 7 2018.

An application was made by counsel representing Mar-Train Racing to admit a report by a motorsports engineer as evidence, which shows analysis of technical data from the machine prior to, and during the moment of the accident.

However, third-party reports are not normally considered as part of an inquiry and a solicitor for Mr Dunlop’s partner, Janine Brolly, said they would need to review the report before agreeing that it could be admitted.

A report into the crash has also been received from Motor Cycling Ireland, the governing body of motorcycle racing in the Republic of Ireland.

The coroner, Dr Cróna Gallagher, will call a witness from the body to attend the full hearing, which is expected to last two days in January. A submission was also made to call Mar-Train Racing co-owner Tim Martin.

The motorcycle ridden by Mr Dunlop remains in gardaí (Irish police) custody at Santry in Dublin.

One of the sport’s leading riders, Mr Dunlop won four times at the North West 200 and was a seven-time winner at the Ulster Grand Prix.

He also achieved 108 Irish National road racing victories.

A father-of-two, Mr Dunlop became the third member of the legendary motorcycle racing family to lose their life in a motorcycle racing accident after his uncle Joey died in 2000 in Estonia, while his father Robert lost his life at the North West 200 in 2008.