The death of an experienced motorcyclist fulfilling a dream to ride round the infamous Nurburgring racing circuit in Germany was “a tragic accident”, a Coroner has said.

An inquest in Bradford heard 46-year-old Phil Bennett, of Harden, had been wanting for years to ride the 14-mile track with its 72 bends and had joked it was his belated 40th birthday present, the hearing was told.

On the day of the accident, in October 2007, the father-of-one had been riding a Honda Blackbird capable of speeds up to 170mph which belonged to best friend Graham Overend, a bike dealer, of Wibsey.

Mr Overend, whose 14-year-old son Stephen was riding pillion, went round first expecting Mr Bennett to follow – but he never arrived at the finish.

It was only later when the police arrived that he learned his friend had come off his bike and died.

German witnesses, including a woman driver who had slowed behind Mr Bennett, had described him as riding “unsure”, needing to take up the whole width of the track while not travelling as fast as other cars and bikes, only going up to about 60mph.

The bike was also seen lurching from side to side and one witness said he saw Mr Bennett’s front wheel wobble before he skidded into the crash barrier and was catapulted over it.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Bennett died from a ruptured aorta and other multiple injuries. He had no alcohol or drugs in his system and the diabetic on medication had a normal blood glucose level.

Tests on the bike also showed it had no faults.

Mr Overend told the Coroner today: “He had never spoken of any problems with the bike.”

He said he felt the low sun could have possibly dazzled Mr Bennett and that the kind of wobbly front wheel motion that was spotted before the impact was usually down to a bike getting a flat tyre or to an uneven road surface.

He also said the Nurburgring was “a free-for-all when you set off” and that it was a circuit that was “difficult until you learn it”.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said: “In simple terms, this was a tragic accident.”

After the inquest Mr Overend said his friend had been a “salt of the earth” kind of man who had ridden bikes passionately since his teens when they became friends.

He said: “He’d got into trouble somehow and on that track there are no safety run-offs to go to if that happens, the crash barrier would have been his only choice. That kind of thing wouldn’t be allowed in this country.”

Mr Bennett’s widow Louise said she, and especially their daughter Amy, now ten, who called her daddy “Raggy”, still missed him terribly.

“We still talk about him and laugh about him. Amy is like her dad in lots of ways. She knows what she wants and gets what she wants too.”

Mr Bennett was one of four children. His elder brother Andrew died mountaineering in the Alps more than 30 years ago.