Isle of Man TT 2016: Paul Shoesmith and Dwight Beare killed on opening day of racing

Paul Shoesmith, 50, and Dwight Beare, 27, suffered fatal injuries during Saturday's action

Paul Shoesmith, 50, was killed at the Isle of Man TT on Saturday (www.iomtt.com)

Two fatal accidents on the opening day of racing at the Isle of Man TT brought a solemn end to Saturday night.

After Michael Dunlop broke the outright TT lap record not once but twice, the opening RST Superbike race ended without serious incident.

After the Superbike race, the opening Sidecar race got underway. It was red flagged on the opening lap after a serious crash at Rhencullen. It was later announced by race organisers that Dwight Beare, 27, suffered a fatal crash.

Beare's passenger, Benjamin Binns, was airlifted to Noble's Hospital with a fractured ankle. His condition was described as "stable".

Once the opening Sidecar race was completed after a restart, the practice session got underway for superstock, supersport and lightweight but the session was red flagged quickly.

Race organisers confirmed that Paul Shoesmith suffered a fatal crash on Sulby Straight. The 50-year-old made his TT debut in 2005, and had a career best TT finish of 11th in both the Superbike and Senior TT of 2011.

The Independent joins the racing community in passing its thoughts on to the family and friends of Beare and Shoesmith.