A MOTORING enthusiast from Chiswick was killed during a vintage touring car race at the weekend.
Christian Devereux, of Bedford Park, was taking part in the Donington Historic Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire when his 1965 Mini Cooper S crashed into a Ford Mustang on Sunday.
The 52-year-old sustained severe injuries and died at around 4:30pm after the race was cancelled and two air ambulances arrived at the scene.
Mr Devereux was a director of Hexagon Motorcycles in nearby Ravenscourt Park. A spokesperson from the company said: "We would like to communicate to our customers that business will go on as normal and we would like them to bear with us during this difficult time."
Touring car fans took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Chiswick man, including Jason Plato, two-time British Touring Car Champion who tweeted: "Terrible news that Christian Devereux died today at Donington Park. Kinda put things into perspective. Condolences to his family and friends."
The operators of Donington Park Circuit, Donington Park Racing Limited, released a statement on the day. It said: "It is with great regreat that the directors of Donington Park Racing Limited have to report that, following an accident in a race for historic touring cars held as part of the race meeting on Sunday 5th May, the driver of car number 67, Christian Devereux of Chiswick, London succumbed to the injuries sustained at approximately 16:030 hours."
They confirmed the organisers, the Historic Sports Car Club and Donington PArk Racing Limited, together with the circuit's medical and emergency services, will now be co-operating with both the Leicestershire Police and motorsport's governing body, the Motor Sports Association, in order to determine the cause of the tragic accident.
