TT racer Paul Owen honoured for selfless act

A special award to recognise the Spirit of the TT has been handed to a rider who abandoned their own race to help at the scene of a serious crash.

Paul Owen, from Llangollen, Wales, was presented with the PokerStars-sponsored award for helping after his friend and fellow racer Paul Dobbs crashed heavily during the Isle of Man TT Supersport 2 on Thursday.

New Zealander Dobbs, who was a friend of Owen's, died in the crash.

The Spirit of TT award is intended to recognise a selfless contribution by an individual to the event's success. The criteria for the award is based on key qualities such as innovation, leadership, teamwork, respect and integrity. The award is open to anyone who contributes to the event, such as riders, marshals and volunteers.

It was judged by representatives from the ACU, Isle of Man Government, TT sponsor PokerStars, Isle of Man Newspapers and Manx Radio.

After Dobbs crashed at Ballagarey, Owen dismounted and assisted the marshals in controlling the incident. He took a flag and told the marshal waving it to go and attend to the rider and he would wave the flag.

In doing this, Paul gave up his own race ambitions and also withdrew from the TT Zero Electric bike race.

Isle of Man Tourism political member Geoff Corkish said:

"Paul's actions typified the sense of community spirit that we value at the TT and on the Isle of Man and he is a very deserving winner of this inaugural award."