Steve Hislop

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Steve Hislop at Creg-ny-Baa

Steven Hislop (January 11, 1962 - 30 July 2003) was a Scotish motorcycle racer. Hislop won the Isle of Man TT eleven times and also the British 250cc Championship (1990) and British Superbike championship (1995 and 2002).

1 Biography
- 1.1 Racing career
- 1.2 Personal life
2 References

[edit] Biography

Hislop was born into a close borders family, and grew up in the village of Chesters with his father Sandy, mother Margaret and best friend/younger brother Gary. Their father inspired the boys to take up motorcycle racing, but when Garry was killed in a motorbike accident at Silloth in 1982 aged 19, and his father had died three years earlier from a heart attack, Hislop slumped into an alcohol inspired depression^[1].

[edit] Racing career

Hislop entered and finished second in a newcomers’ race at the Manx Grand Prix in 1983 - the year after Garry had won it. He won the 250cc British Championship in 1990, and the British Superbike Championship in 1995, frustrated by reports he’d won only because his main rival James Whitham was battling cancer.

Steve Hislop on the Norton

But it was on the Isle of Man that his knowledge of the circuit and perfectionism led to his greatest success. 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.

[edit] Personal life

Having lost his brother and many friends in motorcycle accidents, Hislop made a point of never going to the funerals of fellow racers, saying: "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."

Hislop had two children by former partner, Kelly Bailey, but the couple split just before his second son Connor was born. He had joint custody of the children, and had found love again with girlfriend Ally Greenwood.

Hislop died in a helicopter accident near Teviothead, Roxburghshire and was laid to rest in the village of Chesters near his birthplace of Hawick, Scotland.