Update: Officials have confirmed that Carlin Dunne has died. Read the latest information here. 

It appears Carlin Dunne, the motorcycle favorite from Santa Barbara, California, has crashed his 2019 Ducati Streetfighter V4 Prototype near the finish line of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. 

Dunne completed the final turn before the finish line as the fastest motorcycle qualifier, but did not cross the finish line, according to the race radio broadcast. 

Codie Vahsholtz, a teammate and friend of Dunne’s, said he heard from Ducati North America members that the 36-year-old involved in the accident was moving.

“I heard from another teammate that he’s going to be OK,” Vahsholtz said. “That relieved some nerves from there.”

The video below features Dunne completing the final turn, less than a quarter mile from the finish line. 

An ambulance was dispatched to the finish line. Race officials are preventing media from taking photo and video.

A Gazette reporter at the finish line said they were not watching Dunne approach  but witnessed bike shrapnel going over the right edge of the road about 20 yards from the finish line. 

Throughout the morning riders had trouble with a small hump in the road near the finish line. Multiple witnesses said they believed Dunne hit the bump at a high speed which caused his front wheel to spin out.

A blue and white helicopter circled the summit in the moments following the apparent crash, but did not land. 

The radio broadcast confirmed that Dunne has not arrived at the summit, adding that “unofficially, there was a problem at cog cut.”

This is a developing story. 

Carlin Dunne rounds the final turn of the 2019 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. (Evan Petzold, The Gazette)

EVAN PETZOLD
evan.petzold@gazettedev.gazette.com