Belgian rider Laurent Hoffmann paid tribute to a “good friend” in Kamil Holan, who died following an accident at the North West 200 on Thursday, describing him as “genuine, friendly and always kind”.
Holan, 48, crashed at Station Corner in the morning’s opening Superbike qualifying session at the event in Northern Ireland.
It made him the first fatality at the international road race since Malachi Mitchell-Thomas was killed in a Supertwins race in 2016, and he became the 20th to lose their life in the 97-year history of the event.
Hoffmann, who will compete in Saturday’s race schedule, has been in contact with Holan’s family and explained the late Czech rider had been taking part in the event in tribute to his late father, who recently died.
“He’s Czech and my wife is from the Czech Republic, so we were friends and got along very well,” Hoffmann said of Holan.
“He was genuine, friendly and always kind – a good fella with a good heart and a very good rider. I could not say anything bad about him – he was just the best guy.
“He’s a friend but was also standing next to us at his awning [in the North West 200 paddock].
“Also because I’m here with a lorry, we took a lot of riders’ stuff from Europe and his stuff was also there, so it was a very bitter pill when I heard it was him.”