Racers in Deadly Crash ID'd as SMC Students

It was probably a spontaneous joyride before it turned deadly, claiming the life of a French-born student.

Investigators surmise that 22-year-old Frank Gauthier and another foreign student, each riding similar Yamaha street bikes, might have revved their engines before accelerating in a friendly race Feb. 24.

Several witnesses, including a police officer, reported that starting at Cloverfield Boulevard, the students split lanes westbound on Pico Boulevard at about 50 mph until . He died three weeks later on March 16.

"It may have just been for fun," police Sgt. Richard Lewis said of the way the race began. "They were engaged in some type of speed contest."

Manslaughter charges are expected to be filed against the surviving motorcyclist, a Moroccan national whose name is being withheld until the investigation concludes. He laid down his 2002 Yamah YFZ-R6 upon seeing Gauthier crash, police said.

"We will make a presentation" to the DA, Lewis said. "It shouldn't be too much longer."

Gauthier's death marks the first fatal traffic collision of 2012 in Santa Monica.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Gauthier was studying music and business at Santa Monica College, where he worked at the bookstore, friends said.

In February 2011, a 23-year-old Santa Monica . Allegedly drunk, Anupam Sanyal lost control and rammed a palm tree a few hundred feet east of Wilshire and 20th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

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