A CAR seemed to explode when hit by a motorcycle ridden by a retired firefighter, an inquest was told today.

Another witness had seen a “piff of smoke and spray of water” moments before Giovanni Richetta crashed into a Peugeot 206 driven by Sarah Walsh on a bend on the A65 on Valentine’s Day, this year.

In recording a verdict that Mr Richetta, 52, of Briar Wood, Wrose, Shipley, died as a result of a road traffic accident, Craven Coroner Rob Turnbull said: “There is no definitive reason for the accident.

“What happened is clear but why it happened remains a mystery.”

Mr Richetta had been out for the day on his Moto Guzzi with friends but had left them at Kirkby Lonsdale to get home to make his daughters a meal.

The accident happened as he rode towards Settle and crossed the carriageway on a left hand bend as he approached Austwick.

Mr Turnbull said: “Mr Richetta was not riding at excessive speed, there was no physical reason for the crash and there was no defect with the motorcycle.”

Near to the crash site there was a pothole full of water, some of which had been spread across the road by the traffic but that was not a cause of the accident and did not make the road surface dangerous.

One explanation was that Mr Richetta had made an adjustment to his line of approach to the bend, possibly by becoming aware of water on the road, said Mr Turnbull.

Mrs Walsh, of Guardhouse Drive, Keighley, told how Mr Richetta, a firefighter with West Yorkshire for 30 years, came round the right hand bend on his motorcycle straight towards her.

“He didn’t seem to turn. He seemed just to go straight on towards me. It happened so quickly and there was a terrific bang and everything went dark and smokey.”

Donald Webster, of Kendal, a retired road traffic police officer, who was travelling behind Mrs Walsh said: “The Peugeot appeared to explode and there was glass and debris."

John Wilkinson, of Gisburn, who was overtaken by Mr Richetta said the motorcyclist was not driving at excessive speed.

“I remarked to my wife how clean the bike was then I saw a piff of smoke and spray of water and the bike went down. The front end seemed to go under the bike,” he said.