Motorsport world mourns 53-year-old former champion after deadly crash

The motorsport community is mourning the death of lifetime member and former Supersports Champion Darren Barlow.

The 53-year-old was competing at Eastern Creek in Sydney's west last night when he crashed.

Barlow wore his passion for motorsport on his sleeve.

He's being remembered as a pivotal member of the Sydney racing scene.

Yesterday, he was competing with his team at Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek.

He was racing in his Stohr WF1 when he crashed about 8pm.

"The vehicle did crash at the end of turn one, travelling at a particularly high speed, and left the race track and rolled," NSW Police Assistant Commissioner David Driver said.

Paramedics rushed to the wreck but there was nothing they could do.

"At the end of that race I stood up and said to my wife, 'I'm going to see Darren and see how he went'," RX8 Cup manager Ric Shaw said.

"Unfortunately I couldn't see him. I couldn't speak to him again."

From Wollongong, Barlow worked for a medical company but the rest of his time was dedicated to racing.

The former Supersports Champion was also president of his club and in 2023 he was honoured with a life membership.

Exactly what caused him to lose control is under investigation.

Those closest to him are struggling to understand what went wrong, knowing how much experience he had in the sport

"Motorsport's dangerous, we all know that as drivers every time we put a helmet on, we know what we're doing. But we all take the risk because we love it," Shaw said.

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