Lavorel was involved in an incident on the first lap of the opening Sidecar race of the 2022 TT back in June, with the driver of the outfit Cesar Chanel killed in the crash.
Both were taken to hospital, but due to each other having swapped their identification tags, the identities of Lavorel and Chanel were mixed up when news first broke that one of them had died.
Lavorel had initially been mistakenly reported as having died, before this was clarified on the Wednesday of race week.
Lavorel was taken to hospital in Liverpool for treatment following the incident, before being transferred to a hospital in France to continue his treatment.
Tragically, Lavorel has succumbed to his injuries.
He is now the sixth competitor to have died at the 2022 TT, with solo racers Mark Purslow and Davy Morgan, and father-and-son Sidecar crew Roger and Bradley Stockton all losing their lives in incidents this year.
This is the first time six competitors have died at the TT since 1970.
A statement from the TT read: “The Isle of Man TT Races is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Sidecar competitor, Olivier Lavorel, from Sillingy, France.
“Olivier sustained serious injuries in an incident during the opening lap of the first Sidecar Race of the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races on the Saturday 4 June.
“The accident occurred at Ago’s Leap, just under one mile into the course, and also claimed the life of Olivier’s team mate, Cesar Chanel.
“Olivier was airlifted to hospital in Liverpool before being transferred to a hospital in France in late June where his treatment continued.
“Both Olivier and Cesar were newcomers to the Isle of Man TT Races in 2022 but were an experienced pairing, taking numerous victories and podiums in the French F1 and F2 National Sidecar Championships.
“Everyone at the Isle of Man TT Races passes on their deepest sympathy to Olivier’s family, friends and loved ones at this tragic time.”
An inquest into the Lavorel/Chanel incident back in June concluded that there was not enough evidence to determine why both competitors were carrying each other’s dog tags.
The inquest also heard that the alarm was raised over both racers’ identities being mistaken following the recovery of one of their helmets and the reviewing of footage of the incident by the Clerk of the Course.
Both racers were finally identified by their hair and blood types, after Chanal’s mother flew to Liverpool hospital only to find her son was not the competitor – Lavorel – who had been transferred.
