Simon McKinley

Tributes have been paid to a popular motor racing champion who was killed when his car crashed during an event in Clare.

Married father-of-one Simon McKinley, 34, from Naul on the Meath/Dublin border, was seriously injured on Saturday when he lost control of his single-seater racing car. Despite the best efforts of event emergency crews, Mr McKinley died at the scene.

The crash happened just seconds after the start of Mr McKinley’s hill climb and only 300 metres from the start line. It appears his car collided with a bale of hay before ploughing into the face of a 25ft high stone cliff. There was some evidence of fire at the scene but it wasn’t significant.