The motorcycle speedway community is mourning the loss of iconic racers Ryan Terry-Daley and Nick Edmond, who tragically died in separate incidents in the past week.

Both riders were well-respected in their disciplines and were affiliated with Auckland’s Rosebank Speedway. It’s understood Terry-Daley, 31, died in a car crash near Auckland over the weekend, while Edmonds was in his 50s and was involved in an accident.

Terry-Daley was a two-time North Island solo champion and three-time New Zealand champion and spent some time competing in the lower levels in the UK. Upon returning to New Zealand, he helped and mentored many of the up-and-coming riders and won the Rosebank Speedway club champs last year by a significant margin.

Interim general manager of Speedway New Zealand, Zoe Irons, described Terry-Daley as a “really good human”.

“He really enjoyed his racing,” Irons said. “He enjoyed every part of it from the mechanical aspect of it to the racing part of it.

“It’s a cool concept, isn’t it? Racing a bike for a living. If that’s your passion, it’s an amazing thing to be able to go and do it for a job, but you have to be fearless because these bikes have got no brakes. They accelerate as fast as a Formula One car because of their power-to-weight ratio.

Ryan Terry-Daley. Photo / Rosebank Speedway

“He got to live his dream out. He was a good human and just such a likeable lad.”

British Speedway also paid its respects to Terry-Daley.

“Ryan was a regular in the UK for around a decade, racing predominantly in the NDL [third division] for the likes of Mildenhall, Coventry, Stoke, Plymouth and Leicester,” it said in a statement.

“His spell with the Lion Cubs in 2019 saw him part of the team which lifted the NDL title, and although he was no longer racing in the UK, he continued to compete in New Zealand.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”

Edmonds was considered a legend in sidecar racing, which took him around the world, competing in England, Europe, the USA and Australia, even representing New Zealand at the World Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme level.

Rosebank Speedway president Brian Guptill said Edmonds was somebody very passionate about the sport.

“After all this time on sidecars, he was in the process of putting a flat-track bike together to come out racing this season on a flat-track bike,” Guptill said.

Nick Edmonds. Photo / Rosebank Speedway

“He would spend 30 hours a week plus helping another ... competitor to get their sidecar ready for the season.

“Nick was awesome with his New Zealand titles and everything else that he did.”

The Rosebank Speedway, which recently had its lease extended by five years, with the option for a further five, will use its first meet of the season on October 19 to pay its respects to Terry-Daley, while plans are in place to honour Edmonds in early November.

Last month, the speedway community also lost Alan “Moon Goon” Luoni, who had an involvement of over 45 years in the sport, mainly in Whanganui.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.