TRIBUTES have been paid to a GP who died in a crash during a race at a Co Down motor sports track.
The 500 Motor Racing Club Of Ireland said Dr Paul Conn, from Lisburn, would be "sorely missed" after his death at the Kirkistown Racing Circuit on Saturday.
A father-of-three and partner at Ballygomartin Group Practice in Belfast, Dr Conn was born in 1958 and had just celebrated a win during the weekend race meeting.
"Paul was from Lisburn. He joined our club in 1996 and during the intervening years he campaigned his Crosslé 47S with increasing success," it said.
"In 2018 he seemed to reach a new level of skill and he began to trouble the established top echelon of drivers in Roadsports, winning in the second race of the May meeting."
Referring to Dr Conn's success on Saturday, it said: "He had already won the first Roadsports race, against top opposition, and he was on course for a repeat in the second race when he had an accident opposite the control tower, on the front straight.
"Because of the location of the incident, our doctors and the Order Of Malta personnel were in attendance almost immediately, but unfortunately Paul succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
"Once again, we offer our severe condolences to Paul’s family, friends, colleagues and team. He will be sorely missed."
In a statement following the crash, Motorsport UK said it was investigating the circumstances.
"As with all serious incidents in or around UK motor sport, Motorsport UK is now working with the event-organising club and the police to establish precisely what happened on this occasion," a spokesperson said, adding: "Motorsport UK sends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased driver."
A PSNI spokesman said it was "investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a man at a race track in Kircubbin on Saturday afternoon. A report will be prepared for the coroner".
Meanwhile, police are also investigating the circumstances of the sudden death of a man in Co Antrim.
The man's body was found on the roadside on Straid Road, Bushmills on Saturday.
Police said the death "is not being treated as suspicious, pending the outcome of a post mortem".
