Sadly, we come to the event which I believe signifies a turning point in the fortunes of Equipo Douglas in Spanish Motorcycle Racing during the 1920’s.
Another event at the Alcorcon – Mostoles – Villaviciosa circuit was held on 24th October 1926. The duration was two 6 hour events with the “Expert” competitors in the first event and the “amateurs” in the second. Each lap of the circuit was approximately 17.4km in length.
Before the event there was a lot of rain causing some flooding of the course and road conditions not ideal. Some competitors decided to withdraw their entry.
Equipo Douglas consisted of Zacarias Mateos, Baltasar Santos, Fredrico Sagrario, Laureano Gonzalez, Vicente Naure (Sidecar), Inocencio Mateos (RA Sidecar) and his passenger Ernesto Sanchez. Ernesto was a last minute substitute after Mateos’s original passenger was not allowed to compete (I think due to lack of permission from their guardian). It appears Ernesto was possibly not an experienced sidecar passenger.
In the first 6 hour event, Zacarias took the lead early, but lost time due to a puncture and Sagrario took the lead until it was regained again by Zacarias. Inocencio was challenging Naure for the lead in the sidecar class. During the 8th lap Inocencio lost control of his machine and it crashed heavily into trees also overturning. Sanchez was killed instantly. Inocencio survived the crash but had a broken femur and internal injuries. He sadly succumbed to his injuries later that day.
Equipo Douglas withdrew from the even as news of the terrible accident reached them. Other competitors also withdrew. The event was shortened to 14 laps but continued. Only 4 motorcycle finished, all Velocettes with Jose Alafont claimed overall victory.
Some of the press of the day sensationalised this tragic event and published pictures of the crashed Douglas RA outfit. Out of respect I have chosen not to show them in this thread. For those wishing to inspect them (not for the squimish – warning- images of deceased persons) they can be found in Neuvo Mundo 29 10 1926 and Mundo Grifico 27 10 1926 (search
https://www.bne.es/es/catalogos/hemeroteca-digital)
There was some conjecture as to the cause of the accident, some said that the sidecar lost its wheel (due to a broken axle) and that precipitated Inocencio Mateos to lose control on what was a straight section of road that could normally be taken at speed. Naure thought otherwise, that the accident was possibly caused by a burst rear tyre and was compelled to write a letter to the press explaining his theories. I have included a copy of this letter from Madrid Automovil 11 1926 (from
https://www.bne.es/es/catalogos/hemeroteca-digital)
It was reported in La Libertad 27 10 1926 (
https://www.bne.es/es/catalogos/hemeroteca-digital) that over 2000 people attended Inocencio and Ernseto’s funeral to give their respects. A memorial in their honour was proposed by Jorge Ibanez and a public subscription was organised by the “Auto” (Madrid Automovil??). I have not found out if such a memorial was ever erected at the crash site The accident happened about 16km into lap 8, one report says 1km from Alcorcon and in another that it occurred “near” Mostoles. I have not found the exact location yet but will do some more research into this. Unfortunately, modern urban sprawl may have obliterated any evidence.
Obviously, the whole tragic event cast a sombre mood over everyone. (EDIT) After this event there appears
to be only one
more style of full page advertisement from Quinones –
placed in starting from Gran Vida in November 1926. Understandably just a summary of what he is involved with (– quite a bit it appears – more on this in a later post).
Possibly the writing was already on the wall for the fortunes of the racing Douglii due to what was going on with the supply of the EW’s from the factory (at the expense of all other things) and lack of factory support and spares were potentially hampering the ability of Euipo Douglas to keep their machines running reliably in the arduous Spanish road racing events? I have not seen any response to this accident from the Douglas Factory - but I will look into this further.
As we will see, things are quiet for Douglas racing motorcycles in Spain for quite a few years.
Motor racing is dangerous and motorcycle road racing is probably one of its most dangerous genres - the road surface is unpredictable, the course difficult to learn and master in the limited, if any, time period available and the scenery is unfortunately usually immovable….
RIP Inocencio and Ernesto.
