Jack Willson was 10 years old when he was killed in a motocross accident at Digger McEwen Motocross Park in 2023.
Warning: This story deals with the death of a child and may be distressing.
A father who saw his 10-year-old son cling to his motocross bike as it flew through the air like a “rocket” believes his boy was killed the moment he hit the ground.
Jack Willson was a confident and competent rider, his father John Willson told Coroner Ian Telford at an inquest that started in Rotorua today.
His mother, Tonia Willson, spoke of a funny, “very important and very missed little boy”, who loved motocross, cricket and rugby. She said he entertained his family with funny voices and faces and his “dry wit”.
Jack was competitive, and when walking the track with his father before the race in Taupō in April 2023, he noted a corner had changed since the previous season.
Willson said Jack told him, “I’ll be able to take that at speed”.
Unlike the previous season at Taupō Motocross Club, where the corner had been a flat bend, this year it was a camber – a corner that is angled, allowing riders to take the bend at a higher speed.
The track had “whoops”, small bumps that Willson said riders normally “roll over” and can serve to slow them down. However, because of the camber at the end, Willson said Jack was accelerating over those whoops.
A group of boys heading towards a corner like that will want to push the limits, he told the coroner.
Willson saw Jack get the wobbles and land awkwardly. But, instead of just letting go and taking a tumble, he clung on.
Willson said riders are taught to let go, however, his son was a “10-year-old” and tried to hang on and, in doing so, “opened the throttle”.
He was riding a lightweight Yamaha two-stroke 65CC racing bike, which required careful handling.
His parents had delayed him getting one until he was big enough and strong enough to handle it, and he had lessons in how to ride it.
Willson said he saw his son “supermanning” on the bike, having lost his footing.
“He was trying to hold on to a rocket.”
He saw Jack hit the ground, at the base of a whoop. The force then sent him cartwheeling off to the side into the treeline.
Willson believes he hit a tree, but didn’t think that was what caused his death.
He thinks he was killed as soon as he hit the ground.
Willson said he was the first to arrive to where Jack lay.
He “froze” and then knelt beside him.
“I knew he was dead,” Willson said.
Jack’s bike was still in gear, with the rear wheel spinning, lying near him.
As a trained first responder and a Fire and Emergency officer, Willson removed Jack’s helmet and body protection and rolled him into position for CPR.
He said the priority was Jack’s airways and breathing and he began CPR before the event medics arrived.
When a St John ambulance arrived, he handed over to them. A team of firefighters then arrived, and Willson knew two of them, having trained them, and “emotions went up”.
“They knew he was my son,” Willson said.
Jack was pronounced dead at the scene.
Willson said he didn’t blame anyone for his son’s death, saying it was “a really cruel accident that shouldn’t have happened”.
However, he said, “I believe Jack passed away because of the track design”.
“A mistake happened ... every child who has ever ridden a bike makes a mistake. A small mistake happened. The track design was fast. He should have been slowing down, instead he was accelerating.”
His primary suggestion for safety improvements was around track design.
“A safer track is a slower track, but you can still make it technical,” Willson said.
A technical track still meant young riders could learn and improve. Willson also wanted increased minimum distances between the track and hard obstacles.
He said bikes were getting faster and lighter, and he made suggestions about checking equipment, track safety, and information-sharing about near-misses that happened during club meets and competitions.
Willson said he and his family were happy for Motorcycling New Zealand and the Taupō Motorcycle Club to use Jack’s name for any safety campaigns.
Jack was also a member of the Pukekohe Motorcycle Club.
Coroner Telford asked Willson what the barriers were to sharing concerns about safety within motocross.
Willson said there was often a culture of “she’ll be right” and it could be quite an intimidating environment to suggest something might be unsafe.
“There are many good people, but there’s a culture of winning.”
There was testosterone, and it was loud, fast and adrenaline-fuelled.
The difficult balancing act was making it safety-conscious but not putting people off.
The inquest is set down for three days.
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.