MYSTERY continues to surround the death of a "careful" motorcyclist who collided with a car on a clear spring morning.

Patrick Greenough was at the back of a group of three motorcyclists travelling on the B3082 Blandford Road near Badbury Rings on Sunday, May 29 this year when he was involved in a crash with a Peugeot 206 being driven on the other side of the road.

Mr Greenough, who was 49, was thrown over the bonnet of the car during the crash.

He died at the scene.

Peugeot driver Angela Winson, who was travelling to Bournemouth from her Gillingham home, said Mr Greenough's Honda Fireblade bike "suddenly appeared" on the same side of the road as her car emerged out of a dip close to the Shapwick turning.

"[The motorcycle] was 10 to 12 feet from the front of my car when it appeared," she said.

"I shouted 'No'. I think it was just in my head, I'm not sure.

"The bike crashed into the front nearside of my car."

When Mrs Winson stopped the Peugeot and got out, she couldn't see the motorcyclist or the bike, she said.

"Parts of the motorcycle were lying in the road," Mrs Winson added.

"I walked to the back of my car and found [Mr Greenough] almost curled around my rear nearside wheel."

She said the motorcycle had been travelling at a 45 degree angle in the moments before the collision, which happened on a stretch of road with a 60 mile per hour speed limit.

Nicholas Fewings was driving around six car lengths behind Mr Greenough when he saw the motorcycle's rear tyre "wobble".

"[It] started to wobble from side to side," Mr Fewings said.

"All of a sudden there was a loud thud and I saw the rider tumbling in the air over the car."

However, specialist investigators could find no defect to either of the vehicles involved that may have contributed to the crash.

There was also no sign of a spillage or leakage on the road that may have caused Mr Greenough to lose control, police said.

Mr Greenough was travelling with brother David and long-time friend Andrew Shand before the crash.

David Greenough and Mr Shand were riding ahead of Mr Greenough, and retraced their steps when he failed to catch up with them.

"Pat was a steady rider," Mr Shand said.

"We have never been involved in an accident like this in the past.

"When we do get separated, we tend to wait for one another.

"I'm gutted - he was a good friend and I've known him since I was at school."

Mr Greenough suffered an aortic rupture, and Coroner Sheriff Payne said he died as the result of a road traffic collision.

"It sounds very neutral, but I'm not here to establish blame or liability," he said.

"There is an element of mystery in this."