Image credit: Loring Timing Association

Drag racing and land speed record competition have always gone hand-in-hand, with the quarter mile sport as we know it being born out of the very same hot rodding culture that made Bonneville and other venues of unadultered speed famous. To this day, much of the technology, the manufacturers, the personalities, and perhaps most importantly, the spirit and the drive to compete and break records, are intertwined between the two sports that are different yet very much one in the same. And so it comes with much sadness to those of us in the drag racing world to report the loss of one of motorcycle racings’ top competitors, Bill Warner, following an accident during a two-wheeled, record-breaking speed attempt at the Loring Air Force Base in Maine on Sunday.

Warner, 44, the first competitor in history to break the 300 mph barrier on a traditional motorcycle with a top speed of 311 mph recorded in 2011, had just surpassed the 285 mph mark on the standing-mile course for “The Maine Event” when his motorcycle veered off the course and crashed. According to news reports, Warner began to lose control near the one-mile mark, but was able to keep the bike upright for another 2,000 feet before running off the course.

Tim Kelly, the Race Director for the Loring Timing Association, said that Warner was conscious and talking with emergency personnel after the crash, but died about an hour later from his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Cole Theriault, one of an estimated 400 spectators on hand to watch the event, told CBS News: “You could see a big dust cloud and then it got silent. The bike, from what I heard, was demolished, just in pieces. After a minute, all you could hear was the sirens.”

Warner was riding a 1,300cc, heavily modified Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle designed specifically for events of this nature, with aerodynamic body work, a custom chassis, specially designed wheels, and of course, a lot of built horsepower. Warner had set his world record 311 mph pass on this very course, and thus was quite familiar with its nuances. The Wimauma, Fla native had suffered crashes before during his speed attempts, most recently at the Texas Mile in October of 2011, in which he suffered a number of broken bones and internal injuries.

Following Sunday’s accident, the remainder of the event was cancelled.