British rider Graeme Ritchie crashed his outdated Ducati 888 during the first race of the Grand Prix of Europe for the World Superbike Championship, held at Brands Hatch on 03 August 1997. The race was stopped after this accident. Ritchie died on 08 August 1997 at the Royal London Hospital. The cause of his crash was that his mudguard exploded going down Pilgrim's Drop, severing his brake lines. He was unable to slow down for Hawthorn's Bend and crashed straight into the barriers.

Graeme Ritchie was from Aberdeen, in Scotland, and had moved to London to start his motorbike business. He left a wife of eleven years, Claire, herself a former motorcycle racer. Claire continued to be interested in motorcycle racing and later run with other people the GeneRace team, also involving popular British movie star Ewan McGregor.

R.I.P