Motorcycle Crashes 285 MPH, Kills Record-Holding Racer Bill Warner As 400 Spectators Watch; Attempted To Hit 300 MPH On 1 Mile Pavement

A motorcycle crashed at 285 mph and killed record-holding racer Bill Warner in northern Maine on Sunday morning, at "The Maine Event" located at the Loring Air Force Base. He was attempting to hit 300 mph to set a world motorcycle record.

Warner, 44, was driving his modified turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle when it crashed. He had previously hit 311 mph on the same course in 2011, using 1.5 miles of pavement, The Christian Science Monitor reports. It's considered to be the world land speed record for a conventional motorcycle, said Tim Kelly, race director of the Loring Timing Association. Kelly hosted "The Maine Event" at Loring Air Force Base.

This time, Warner was trying to hit 300 mph using just one mile of pavement, Kelly said.

The last clocked speed was 285 mph before the motorcycle crashed. Warner was conscious and talking after the crash on Sunday morning, Kelly said. Tragically, Warner then died about an hour and 15 minutes later at a hospital in Caribou.

"No one will touch Bill's achievements or be the type of racer he was," Kelly told the AP. "He was a personal friend and the land-racing community is less for his loss."

On Sunday, about 400 spectators watched as Warner began veering right after passing the 1-mile mark, traveling for another 2,000 feet before going off the runway and crashing, Kelly said.

Spectator Cole Theriault told CBS News: "You could see a big dust cloud and then it got silent... The bike, from what I heard, was demolished, just in pieces. After a minute, all you could hear was the sirens."

"The Maine Event" is an annual timed speed event that takes place on a 14,200-foot-long runway at the former Strategic Air Command base that closed in 1994. The Loring Timing Association uses 2.5 miles of the runway for its events, with an additional buffer of 2,000 feet, Kelly said.

The rest of Sunday's events were canceled. The Limestone Police Department and Maine State Police are investigating the crash.