Steve Hislop

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Steven “Hizzy” Hislop (January 11, 1962 - 30 July 2003) is generally regarded by fellow road racers as the fastest man ever on a motorcycle. Hizzy won the Isle of Man TT eleven times and also the British 250cc Championship (1990) and British Superbike championship (1995 and 2002).

Hislop's talent and outright speed around the TT circuit was legendary and in 1992 aboard the poorly funded and unreliable factory Rotary Norton, Hislop beat the future four-times World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty who was riding a better-handling and more reliable works Yamaha.

Described by some as a flawed genius, his accession onto the world stage never materialised possibly because of a self-destructive reputation. He had many well-publicised clashes with other riders and teams over the years.

At a young age, Hislop watched his father die from cancer, then lost his brother, Garry, in a motorcycle racing accident in 1982. Having lost many friends in motorcycle accidents, he made a point of never going to the funerals of fellow racers. He once said: "Some people might find that a bit callous. I only ever attend family ones and people find it a bit strange that I won’t go to a friend’s funeral, but it’s just my little way of shutting off".

He died in a helicopter accident near Teviothead, Roxburghshire and was laid to rest in his hometown of Hawick, Scotland.