CRAIG JONESCraig Jones, one of the rising stars of British motor sport, died on 4 August, 2008, after a high speed crash at Brands Hatch.
He came off his bike rounding the circuit's demanding last corner while chasing the leading rider in a Supersport World Championship race. The 120mph crash left him unconscious in hospital with severe head injuries.
He died the following morning in the intensive care unit of the Royal London Hospital with his father, mother, sister, girlfriend and racing friends Tommy Hill and James Toseland at his bedside.
The 23-year-old was a former British Junior Superstock champion and had been competing in Supersport since 2003. He had a troubled season in the World Superbikes in 2006 but his form since moving to World Supersport had demonstrated his development as a racer, winning the title of 'Young Rider of the Year' in 2007.
Mr Jones was born on 16 January, 1985, in Crewe and lived in Oundle in Cambridgeshire. He took part in his first race at the age of 14 in 1999, winning for the first time later that season at Oulton Park, a circuit that would remain one of his favourites.
At 17 he became British Superstock champion and earned the step-up to British Supersport, in which production motorcycles run in highly competitive races, the following year.
In 2006 Carl Fogarty personally selected him to ride for his Foggy Petronas Superbikes racing team. The youngster was flung in at the deep end and though he came in a disappointing 27th overall, he gained valuable experience.
This showed itself when he finished an impressive fifth in his debut World Supersport season, despite suffering a spate of technical problems over the course of the year. With his new Parkalgar Honda team he was having a good 2008 season with four podium finishes before his death.
Racing legend Fogarty was quick to pay tribute to Jones: "Craig was one of a crop of good young riders who were the future of British racing and I took a chance on him to ride for our team in 2006 because I thought he was the pick of the bunch."
Jonathan Palmer, head of Brands Hatch circuit, said: "He was a really super young guy and only on the Saturday evening was I chatting to him in the paddock with him telling me about his World Superbike ambitions for 2009. Craig was so determined and professional, would always say hello and enthusiastically keep me in touch with his progress.
"Britain has lost a wonderful rider whom I admired enormously and had every chance of being a future world champion. It is fitting that the abiding memory so many of us will have of Craig was him riding brilliantly, battling for the lead of an incredible race, in front of his home crowd."
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