SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian motocross rider Swian Zanoni has died after losing control of his motorcycle during the last lap of a weekend race. He was 23.
The Brazilian motorcycling confederation says Zanoni apparently struck a tree Sunday. He sustained a severe neck injury while attempting to overtake another rider in a race in the small city of Orizania.
Zanoni competed in this year’s FIM motocross world championships. He won more than 20 motocross and supercross titles in the Rio de Janeiro state and was runner-up in the Brazilian supercross championship in 2007 and 2008.
Confederation Vice President Roberto Boettcher called the death a “huge loss.”
