Freak motocross 'tragedy': Woman stunned after husband killed

A WorkSafe NZ investigation has been launched after the death at the Cambridge motocross track. Photo / Supplied

A Hamilton woman has been left stunned and distraught after a freak accident at a Cambridge motocross event saw her husband killed.

Waikato police detective Stephen Ambler said Bruce Honore, 68, of Ngahinapouri, died after being hit by the bike in the freak crash.

Mr Honore and his wife were standing at the top of the track at Rowlings Pl, Leamington, when the 20-year-old rider has fallen off his bike.

The entrance to the Cambridge motocross track. Photo / Supplied

Mrs Honore remains in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital. A third spectator was treated for minor injuries at a local medical centre.

Sources yesterday told the Herald that the throttle on the motorbike jammed, but Mr Ambler said it was too soon to comment on exactly what happened but it would be included in their investigation which is being lead by WorkSafe NZ.

"I've heard that [about throttle] but until we've done an examination of the bike we're keeping an open mind around the bike, but what we do know is that it has left the track without a rider on it and collided with a number of spectators."

Mr Ambler said it was also too soon to know how fast the bike was travelling but it was going fast enough on an uphill section to clear the metre-high cloth fence and land on top of the spectators.

"[It's occurred] on an uphill section of the track towards the finish line, a steep uphill right-hand bend with a high embankment on the left hand side, and the motorcycle has gone off on the left-hand side of the track up the embankment and into the spectators."

Mr Ambler said the fence was made of cloth as it was designed to keep people out of the track, not keep motorcycles in it.

The motorcycle didn't touch the fence at all, it went right over th fence it didn't even touch it, it wouldn't have mattered if it was made of re-enforced steel ... it's gone up a steep embankment and left the ground completely and [went] into the spectators and unfortunately for them they had no time to react and took the full force of the machine coming out of the track."

The event was a sanctioned motorcycle club event with the participants paying to enter so the crash does not go towards the district's road toll.

"It was a tragedy, horrible for the club, horrible for the rider, horrible for obviously the family of the deceased."