The annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb->ke1001 was suspended Thursday after a motorcyclist crashed during a practice run before Sunday’s main race. The motorcyclist is reported as Carlton Sorensen, from Centennial, Colorado, a veteran rider in the Middleweight division.

The Gazette is reporting Sorensen died from injures sustained after losing control of his motorcycle and plummeting over a cliff between Devil’s Playground and the summit, sometime before 9:00 a.m. local time. Fellow motorcycle competitors told The Gazette that Sorensen started out behind their pack yet did not reach the finish line.

The crash prompted race officials to suspend qualifying and practice for the remainder of Thursday as emergency crews worked to retrieve Sorensen’s body and his 2008 Ducati 848 Superbike. There is currently no official word on when the pre-race events will resume, though qualifying is likely to resume by Friday afternoon.

Sorensen ran the Pikes Peak Hill climb in 2012 and again in 2014, placing 39th in 2014 with a time of 11:04.905, just two minutes behind the leader. Sorensen is now the sixth person to die while attempting to complete the hill climb, following the death of 54-year-old Bobby Goodin last year when he lost control of his motorcycle in loose gravel after crossing the finish line.

We will bring you more on this story as it develops.

The Gazette

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Injuries and deaths are a sobering reminder that man isn’t always in control of his machines. Sorensen’s death will no doubt be felt by those competing in and observing this year’s racing->ke447 events. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.