Guthrie had survived a number of accidents before. In 1931, while on a practice run, he had careered into a flock of sheep that had strayed onto the road. He managed to stay on his bike that time, but in 1934 at Assen he had crashed while leading the field and two years later crashed at 110mph on a practice lap on the Isle of Man.
This time, though, Guthrie would not be so lucky. He suffered terrible injuries after coming off his bike on the dangerous Noetzhold corner near the finishing line and being thrown into trees. First-aid men rushed to help him. The ambulance that carried him got caught up in the heavy traffic of the spectators and took two hours to reach the hospital in Chemnitz. Of the 27 starters, only nine riders finished the race: Sachsenring was a most severe track.
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Photo courtesy of Emap | |
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The Norton team believed it was a technical fault, but Guthrie's great friend and rival Stanley Woods offered a different, more sinister, view in: “He was fouled. As an intelligent, interested eye-witness I am prepared to take an oath that he was the victim of foul riding. I saw the accident because I was coasting to a standstill with a broken petrol pipe when two riders passed me – a German and Guthrie.
“It was just before a very fast downhill right-hander which Jimmie took flat out – he didn't let up at all. The German rider had been with Guthrie for some time and definitely knew he was there – but he couldn't take the bend flat out and he pulled across and forced Jimmie into the right-hand gutter.”
There is a photo of the deceased Guthrie lying on a hospital bed with four Nazi soldiers standing guard. The Union Flag had been hung at the back of his bed, and numerous wreaths and a swastika ribbon placed over his body. A trophy intended for the fastest German rider had been placed by his bedside. Hundreds of mourners filed past to pay their last respects. The Germans put on a special train, accompanied by a military escort, to take Guthrie's body to the border.
