A father-of-three was filmed doing 100mph his on powerful motorbike just seconds before he was killed on a notorious Evo Triangle road , an inquest heard.
Just before the fatal collision Karl Hibberd, 28, had sped past a car, prompting a passenger to comment: “If ever you are going to see a crash this is going to be it.”
And at an inquest in Ruthin coroner John Gittins said that while he did not want to discourage people from visiting North Wales tragedies would continue to occur if they insisted on driving “inappropriately” .
Mr Hibberd, of Harefield, Southampton, suffered multiple injuries when he was thrown from his machine into the path of an oncoming car on the B4501 near Cerrigydrudion on June 24 last year.
The road past Llyn Brenig is part of the Evo Triangle known to attract bikers and other motorists and which is patrolled every weekend by North Wales Police.
Mr Hibberd, a mechanic and lifelong biking enthusiast, was spending a few days in the area with two friends and his Honda Firebird 1,000cc machine was only a month old.
None of his family was at the inquest at which William Kelly, from Leyland in Lancashire, said he and three friends had travelled to the area to drive around the Evo Triangle.
Mr Kelly, who was driving a Mitsubishi Evo, said they met the three bikers at the Sportsman’s Arms on Denbigh Moors and Mr Hibberd told them they had already ridden around the triangle once but planned to do it again.
Mr Kelly set off and said he was doing 45-50mph when Mr Hibberd past him at an estimated 100mph.
Mr Kelly’s passenger commented: “F*** me, he’s flying.”
Mr Hibberd then failed to take a left-hand bend, his machine shooting past an oncoming car driven by Mrs Elizabeth Lund from Frongoch, Bala, while he himself was thrown under it.
“There was nothing the other driver could have done,” said Mr Kelly. “He was going far too fast.”
The coroner read statements from other motorists and cyclists who had been overtaken by Mr Hibberd, one of whom, David Lewis, estimated his speed to have been 120mph.
Collision investigator Richard Davies said an expert had examined a 10-second clip filmed by Mr Kelly’s passenger and calculated that over the 100 metres before the collision Mr Hibberd had been travelling at an average of 100-103mph, while Mr Kelly had been driving at 70-73mph.
The theoretical maximum speed for the bend was 59mph, or 74mph if a “racing line” were adopted.
“The collision was entirely due to excessive speed,” said Mr Davies.
Mr Gittins said he was aware that people were using the roads as a racetrack, adding: “And deaths occur as a result.”
Recording a conclusion of death as a result of a road traffic collision, he said he felt obliged to express his concern about the problem.
“I am of the opinion that North Wales Police are doing everything possible to control this issue and will continue to do so,” he said.
“I don’t want to discourage people from travelling to North Wales to use our roads in an appropriate manner but if they drive inappropriately incidents like this will occur.”
