Fatal Supersport crash - what happened and what next?

Two riders died after an 11-bike crash during the British Supersport Championship race at Oulton Park on Monday.

Owen Jenner, 21, and Shane Richardson, 29, were fatally injured in a "major chain reaction" incident on the first lap of the race and a third rider Tom Tunstall, 47, sustained "significant injuries".

The race was halted on the first lap after what series director Stuart Higgs later called a "severe and catastrophic" incident as he announced the event was cancelled.

BBC Sport looks at what happened and what is next for the sport.

Just moments after the start of the race, one bike wobbled before going down and skidding towards the middle of track as the riders exited the first corner.

That led to a collision that eventually became an 11-bike crash with oncoming riders unable to avoid the fallen bikes.

The race was being broadcast live on TNT Sports but cameras cut away from the track following the crash.

Motorsport Vision Racing (MSVR), who are responsible for circuit operations at Oulton Park in Cheshire, said Jenner was treated at the track but died from "a catastrophic head injury."

Richardson was also treated at the track and taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital with severe chest injuries but he died prior to arrival.

Tunstall, 47, is in hospital with "significant back and abdominal injuries" while five riders suffered minor injuries and the other three were not injured.

Simon Patterson, a MotoGP journalist, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It just seems there's been a chain-reaction on the exit of turn one of Oulton Park, which isn't a particularly scary or aggressive corner.

"But unfortunately, as we've seen multiple times all around the world, as motorcycle racing has become safer, as organisers have done more to reduce the risk of injuries in bike racing, the one thing that is very, very difficult to protect against is when you get multiple riders falling together and the risk of people getting struck by oncoming machinery.

"I think that's exactly what's happened in this situation. It's super unusual to see so many riders fall together."

Former rider and MLav Racing owner Michael Laverty told BBC Sport: "Where the incident happened everyone's accelerating so you're probably about 90 to 100mph at that point, which honestly doesn't feel that fast when you're on a motorbike.

"But because it's a mass start, so everyone starts together, 30 or 32 riders on a grid, whatever the class numbers dictate.

"So as they come out of turn one, the rider who crashed was around about eighth or ninth place I think exiting turn one and unfortunately they've got 20 more riders behind and they're slightly blindsided by the rider in front.

"We've had it in MotoGP where it's been another rider hits a stricken rider on the ground.

"There's no way possible in our sport to mitigate for that circumstance. So unfortunately the two riders were prone in the track and got collected by the oncoming traffic."

British rider Jenner, from Crowborough in East Sussex, began his racing career in Junior Motorcross.

He then progressed to the tarmac, winning the 2018 Team Green, 2020 Junior Supersport and 2023 Junior Superstock titles. He joined the Kramer Team for the 2024 British GP2 season, winning the title with 18 wins out of 20 race finishes.

Jenner signed for Rapid Honda in November 2024 and in announcing his death, the team said it felt "sadness beyond words".

Astro-JJR Hippo Suzuki rider Richardson grew up in the town of Lower Hutt, just north of Wellington on New Zealand's north Island, before moving to the UK.

He has been a joiner since the age of 16 and ran a joinery business alongside his racing career.

He began racing in 2013 and within four years was competing at international events such as the MotoAmerica championship in the United States.

In 2019, he joined his girlfriend Hannah James in the UK, where his two children, Maddie and Max, were born.

Tunstall, 47, is in the Royal Stoke University Hospital with significant back and abdominal injuries, while five other riders suffered minor injuries.

Riders Carl Harris, Max Morgan, Cameron Hall, Freddie Barnes and Morgan McLaren-Wood were treated for minor injuries at the circuit medical centre.

Lewis Jones, Corey Tinker and George Edwards were also involved in the accident but did not suffer injury.

The event at Oulton Park was the first of the 2025 British Superbikes season, with a further seven rounds set to take place across the UK before three 'showdown' events.

Jenner and Richardson were racing in the Supersport Championship, which is a support class to the main British Superbike series.

"If you consider Formula 1's your pinnacle and in motorbike racing we have Motor GP that parallels, then you've got World Superbikes probably the second tier and then British Superbike is one of the top national championships in the world," former rider and MLav Racing owner Michael Laverty told BBC Sport.

"You've got the Superbike class and then the Supersport would be the second tier.

"So the riders are a very, very high calibre of rider, all completely aware and in control of their motorcycle."

MSVR and the Motorcycle Racing Control Board said on Monday that they are "investigating the full circumstances of the incident in conjunction with the Coroner and Cheshire Constabulary".

A Cheshire Police statement read: "Police are investigating two deaths on behalf of the coroner following a multiple collision at Oulton Park this afternoon.

"Emergency services were called to the scene following the collision which resulted in two riders being fatally injured and another with serious injuries."

Superbikes can reach speeds of up to 200mph and even the slightly less powerful bikes used in Supersport regularly clock well in excess of 100mph so there is inherently some risk in the sport.

Fatalities are rare but not sadly not completely unheard of in the sport.

In 2022, British Superbikes rider Chrissy Rouse died after a crash at Donington Park.

Patterson added: "I can't remember it happening to this level in top-level racing for a very, very long time but unfortunately it didn't go according to plan yesterday, and the outcome is absolutely tragic.

"There are always going to be inherent risks to racing motorcycles at speed and as much as we can do to find solutions to those problems and mitigate those risks, there will be some of them that still remain."

Laverty added: "We're not an outlier, it happens in other sports. Unfortunately, our sport is a little bit of a niche sport globally and especially in the UK, and then we get headlines whenever tragic incidents like this happen."

There have been a number of changes made in recent times to try and make the sport safer.

"I've grown up with within the sport, I've lost a few friends. You accept the risk as part of the sport, it is inherently dangerous," Laverty said.

"We do everything we can to mitigate the risk in terms of our safety equipment, how the riders ride on track, how the event organizers prepare the riders, whether it's young riders on race track, how they look out for their fellow competitors, how they conduct themselves, how the marshalling is second to none."

Patterson added: "We've seen really important steps in the last few years in motorcycle racing.

"Things like all the riders now having airbag systems installed inside their suits that detonate immediately upon detecting an impact or before an impact to reduce internal damage.

"We've seen improved safety standards for things like helmets. We've seen more and more mandated top-quality rider protection equipment, both on the riders and on the side of the track."

The next event of the British Supersport Championship season is at Donnington Park from 16 to 18 May.

However, a number of riders will be travelling to Northern Ireland for the North West 200 with qualifying getting under way on Wednesday.

"I think the best way we can respect the fallen is to go out there and do what we do best and what we love," Laverty added.

"Obviously honour them, respect them, support the families and teams that have been affected, but we'll be back on the race track in two weeks time at Donnington Park and we'll go and race with their memories in all of our hearts."

Peter Hickman, a winner in the British Superbike Championship, North West 200 and Isle of Man TT, told BBC Sport NI: "Yesterday was tragic, there are no other words to describe it. Both of the guys I knew fairly well and the whole paddock is in mourning.

"We've got to clear it out of our minds as riders and ride in their memory. If that's something we can do, that's something we will do."