How do motorcycle road racers deal with death in their sport?

The North West 200 road race has been overshadowed by the death of Czech Republic rider Kamil Holan. Holan, 48, died after an accident at the high-speed Station Corner in the Superbike qualifying session, which was the first on-track action on Thursday. He became the 20th rider fatality in the 97-year history of the North West 200, and the first since Malachi Mitchell-Thomas died after a crash in 2016.

On Thursday evening, with the approval of Holan's family, the event resumed as riders took to the circuit for the final qualifying sessions, and six races will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday. Davey Todd, a leading road racer who is missing this year's event because of injuries sustained at a crash in Daytona in March, acknowledges how it is hard for people outside the sport to fathom how riders can head back on to the track so soon after a tragedy. "I do understand it.

Unfortunately, to understand it, you have to be a part of it," Todd told BBC Sport NI. "As soon as you are a part of this amazing sport, you understand how it works and why we continue to do what we do. "Honestly, that's the only way, as much as you try to explain to people exactly why we're going to continue to race on Saturday after such a tragic thing.

" 'The best guy' - tributes paid to late racer Holan Motorcycle road races take place on closed public roads, and the Triangle Circuit at the North West 200 is comprised of 8. 97 miles between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Station Corner, where Holan lost his life, is one of the fastest sections on the circuit.