A MOTORING enthusiast was killed when he lost control of his vintage sports car after competing in a driving skills event, an inquest has heard.

Landscape gardener Charles Boyd Mason, of Newton on Ouse, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire died on August 14, 2016, after while driving his 1972 yellow MG Midget.

An inquest, at New Earswick Folk Hall, York heard Mr Mason was on his way to Newton on Ouse when he turned into Intake Lane, Acaster Malbis, near York, at about 11.40am.

Gary Hudson, director of Acaster Marine, spoke with Mr Mason just before the crash, and as he drove away, commented to a colleague that the tyres on the MG had “almost no tread”.

Mr Hudson said he “got the impression the car was for track racing, not for the road”.

Stuart Smith was driving in the opposite direction when the 34-year-old’s car approached, hit an undulation in the road, bounced into the wrong lane, before crashing into a ditch.

The inquest, which concluded Mr Mason's death was accidental, heard he was not wearing a seatbelt, and had been partially ejected from the vehicle during the crash, which caused the front offside wing to be ripped off, and bent and twisted the roll cage.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Mason's mother, Diana, of Hovingham, Ryedale, said: “Charlie’s death has left a hole in so many people’s lives. It is all the more heartbreaking for the family as for the last few months of his life he was the happiest we had seen him for a long time."