Mike Hailwood

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Mike Hailwood
Nationality	British
Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1958–1967
Teams	Honda, MV Agusta
Grands Prix	152
Championships	250cc - 1961, 1966, 1967 350cc - 1966, 1967 500cc -1962,1963,1964,1965
Wins	76
Podium finishes	112
Pole positions	N/A
Fastest laps	N/A
First Grand Prix	1958 250cc Isle of Man TT
First win	1959 125cc Ulster Grand Prix
Last win	1967 350cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	1967 350cc Japanese Grand Prix

Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1963 - 1965, 1971 - 1974
Teams	Lotus, Lola, Surtees, McLaren
Races	50
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	2
Career points	29
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	1963 British Grand Prix
Last race	1974 German Grand Prix

Mike Hailwood
Nicknames	Mike the Bike
Nationality	English
TTs contested	12 (1958 - 1967, 1978, 1979)
TT wins	14
First TT win	1961 Lightweight 125 TT
Last TT win	1979 Senior TT
Podiums	19

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM (April 2, 1940 – March 23, 1981) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability. Later in his career he went on to compete in Formula One auto racing, becoming one of the few men to compete at the Grand Prix level on motorcycles and in auto racing.

Mike Hailwood was born at Langsmeade House Great Milton in Oxfordshire, His father, who also raced in the pre-World War II era, owned a large motorcycle distributorship and young Hailwood was raised in relative affluence. He began riding at an early age, starting on a minibike as a small boy. He learned to ride in an eight-acre field near his home and wore an oval track from the constant laps he rode on Sunday afternoons after church. He was educated at Pangbourne College, but left early and worked for a short time in the family business before his father sent him to work at Triumph motorcycles. He married Pauline Barbara Nash on 11 June 1975 and had a son and a daughter.

Contents 1 Motorcycle racing career 2 Auto racing career 3 Comeback 4 Legacy 5 Motorcycle Grand Prix results 6 Complete Formula One results 7 References 7.1 Footnotes 7.2 Sources 8 External links

[edit] Motorcycle racing career

Hailwood first raced on 22 April 1957, at Oulton Park. Barely 17, he finished in 11th place, but was soon winning on a regular basis. By 1961, Hailwood was racing for a Japanese upstart factory named Honda. Riding a four-stroke, four-cylinder 250cc Honda, Hailwood won the 1961 250cc world championship. In 1962, Hailwood signed with MV Agusta and went on to become the first rider to win four consecutive 500cc World Championships. After his success with MV Agusta, Hailwood went back to Honda and won four more world titles in 1966 and 1967 in the 250cc and 350cc categories.

Hailwood is perhaps best known for his accomplishments at the renowned Isle of Man TT. By 1967, he had won 12 times on the infamous island mountain course including three straight wins during the 1961 event. He won what many historians consider to be the most dramatic Isle of Man race of all time, the 1967 Senior TT against his great rival, Giacomo Agostini.[1]

In 1968, Honda pulled out of Grand Prix racing, but paid Hailwood £50,000^[1] (equivalent to over £620,000 or US$1.1m at 2006 prices) not to ride for another team, in expectation of keeping him as its rider upon return to competition. But Hailwood would never return to motorcycle racing on a full-time basis, instead electing to pursue a career in auto racing.

[edit] Auto racing career

While he never attained the success in cars that he had on motorcycles, Hailwood became a respected driver in Formula One and World Sports Cars. He won the 1972 Formula Two European title and earned a podium finish at the 24 Hours of LeMans. He participated in 50 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the British Grand Prix on July 20, 1963. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored a total of 29 championship points. Hailwood earned the admiration of fans and fellow drivers when in the 1973 South African Grand Prix, he went to pull Clay Regazzoni from his burning car after the two collided on the second lap of the race. Hailwood's driving suit caught fire, but after being extinguished by a fire marshall he returned to help rescue Regazzoni, an act for which he was awarded the George Medal, the 2nd highest gallantry award that a British civilian can be awarded. He left Formula One after being injured at the 1974 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

[edit] Comeback

In 1978, after an 11 year hiatus from motorcycling, Hailwood performed a now legendary comeback at the Isle of Man TT. Few observers believed the 38 year old would be competitive after such a long absence. Riding on a Ducati 900SS, he was not only competitive, but managed a hugely popular win. He raced the following year at the Isle of Man TT before retiring for good at the age of 39. He retired with 76 Grand Prix victories, 14 Isle of Man TT wins and 9 World Championships.

He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1979.

[edit] Legacy

On Saturday, 21 March 1981, Mike Hailwood set off in his Rover SD1 with his children Michelle and David to collect some fish and chips. He returned along the A435 Alcester Road through Portway Warwickshire near his home in Tanworth-in-Arden. A truck made an illegal turn though the barriers into the central reservation. The Rover hit it. Michelle, aged nine, was killed instantly; Mike and David were taken to hospital. Mike died two days later age 40. David survived. The lorry driver was fined £100.

An annual "Mike Hailwood Memorial Run" takes place in March every year. The start point is the former Norton factory in Aston, Birmingham. The run goes out to Portway, where the accident occurred and then onto the church in Tanworth-in-Arden where Mike and Michelle are buried. The 25th anniversary of this tragic accident was in 2006.

Today, widow Pauline and son David (whose own son, born in 2005 with wife Gloria Beltran, is named Michael David Hailwood Beltran) run the family's Web site and own the Hailwood Lodge in Malaga, Spain, with photographs of Mike's successes dominating the dining room.^{[citation needed]}

The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.

He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001.

[edit] Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Points	Rank	Wins
1958	250cc	NSU	IOM 4	NED 3		W.GER	SWE 6	ULS	NAT							13	4th	0
	350cc	Norton	IOM	NED 2	BEL	W.GER 3	SWE 4	ULS	NAT							9	6th	0
1959	125cc	Ducati	IOM 4	W.GER 4	NED 4	BEL	SWE 3	ULS 8	NAT							20	3rd	1
	250cc	Mondial	IOM	W.GER 2	NED 3		SWE 2	ULS 6	NAT							13	5th	0
1960	125cc	Ducati		IOM	NED	BEL 1		ULS	NAT							1	10th	0
	250cc	Mondial		IOM	NED 2	BEL 3	W.GER	ULS 3	NAT							8	5th	0
	500cc	Norton	FRA	IOM 4	NED 2	BEL 3	W.GER	ULS	NAT 4							13	6th	0
1961	125cc	Honda	ESP 3	W.GER	FRA 3	IOM 8	NED NC	BEL NC	E.GER NC	ULS 2	NAT	SWE	ARG			16	6th	1
	250cc	Honda	ESP	W.GER	FRA 6	IOM 8	NED 8	BEL 4	E.GER 8	ULS 6	NAT 6	SWE 8	ARG			44	1st	4
	350cc	MV Agusta		W.GER		IOM	NED		E.GER	ULS	NAT 6	SWE				6	8th	0
	500cc	Norton		W.GER 3	FRA 6	IOM 8	NED 6	BEL 6	E.GER 6	ULS 6	NAT 8	SWE 6	ARG			40	2nd	2
1962	125cc	EMC	ESP 3	FRA	IOM	NED 2	BEL 3	W.GER 4	ULS	E.GER	NAT	FIN	ARG			12	5th	0
	350cc	MV Agusta			IOM 8	NED 6			ULS	E.GER 6	NAT	FIN				20	3rd	1
	500cc	MV Agusta			IOM	NED 8	BEL 8		ULS 8	E.GER 8	NAT 8	FIN	ARG			40	1st	5
1963	250cc	MZ	ESP	W.GER	IOM	NED	BEL	ULS	E.GER 8		NAT	ARG	JPN			8	8th	1
	350cc	MV Agusta		W.GER	IOM	NED 6		ULS 6	E.GER 8	FIN 8	NAT					28	2nd	2
	500cc	MV Agusta			IOM 8	NED	BEL 8	ULS 8	E.GER 8	FIN 8	NAT 8	ARG 8				56	1st	7
1964	350cc	MV Agusta		IOM	NED 6		W.GER	E.GER	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN 6				12	4th	0
	500cc	MV Agusta	USA 8	IOM 8	NED 8	BEL 8	W.GER 8	E.GER 8	ULS	FIN	NAT 8					40	1st	7
1965	250cc	Honda	USA	W.GER	ESP	FRA	IOM	NED		E.GER	CZE	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN 8	8	10th	1
	350cc	MV Agusta		W.GER 6			IOM	NED 6		E.GER	CZE	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN 8	20	3rd	1
	500cc	MV Agusta	USA 8	W.GER 8			IOM 8	NED 8	BEL 8	E.GER 8	CZE 8	ULS	FIN	NAT 8		48	1st	8
1966	250cc	Honda	ESP 8	W.GER 8	FRA 8	NED 8	BEL 8	E.GER 8	CZE 8	FIN 8	ULS	IOM 8	NAT 8	JPN		56	1st	10
	350cc	Honda		W.GER 8	FRA 8	NED 8	BEL		CZE 8	FIN 8	ULS 8	IOM	NAT	JPN		48	1st	6
	500cc	Honda		W.GER		NED NC	BEL NC	E.GER NC	CZE 8	FIN 6	ULS 8	IOM 8	NAT NC			30	2nd	3
1967	250cc	Honda	ESP NC	W.GER NC	FRA 4	IOM 8	NED 8	BEL 6	E.GER NC	CZE 4	FIN 8	ULS 8	NAT NC	CAN 8	JPN NC	50	1st	5
	350cc	Honda		W.GER 8		IOM 8	NED 8		E.GER 8	CZE 8		ULS	NAT		JPN 8	40	1st	6
	500cc	Honda		W.GER NC		IOM 8	NED 8	BEL 6	E.GER NC	CZE 8	FIN NC	ULS 8	NAT 6	CAN 8		46	2nd	5

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Pts.
1963	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 24	Climax	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR 8	GER										21st	0
		Lola Mk4	Climax							ITA 10	USA	MEX	RSA
1964	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM	MON 6	NED 12	BEL	FRA 8	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 8	ITA Ret	USA 8	MEX 16						21st	1
1965	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus 25	BRM	RSA	MON Ret	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA	MEX						21st	0
1971	Team Surtees	Surtees TS9	Ford	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA 4	CAN	USA 15					18th	3
1972	Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees	Surtees TS9B	Ford	ARG	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL 4	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 4	ITA 2	CAN	USA 17				8th	13
1973	Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees	Surtees TS14A	Ford	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON 8	SWE Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED Ret	GER 14	AUT 10	ITA 7	CAN 9	USA Ret	22nd	0
1974	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M23	Ford	ARG 4	BRA 5	RSA 3	ESP 9	BEL 7	MON Ret	SWE Ret	NED 4	FRA 7	GBR Ret	GER 15	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	11th	12

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] Sources

• 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

[edit] External links

• " The Mike Hailwood Memorial Run" website
• " The Official Mike Hailwood " website
• Motorcycle Hall of Fame
• Memories of Mike Hailwood
• Mike Hailwood Videos

Langsmeade House * [2]

Sporting positions
Preceded by Gary Hocking	500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1962–1965	Succeeded by Giacomo Agostini
Preceded by Ronnie Peterson	European Formula Two Champion 1972	Succeeded by Jean-Pierre Jarier

v • d • e 500 cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions     1949 - L. Graham 1950 - U. Masetti 1951 - G. Duke 1952 - U. Masetti 1953 - G. Duke 1954 - G. Duke 1955 - G. Duke 1956 - J. Surtees 1957 - L. Liberati 1958 - J. Surtees 1959 - J. Surtees 1960 - J. Surtees 1961 - G. Hocking 1962 - M. Hailwood 1963 - M. Hailwood 1964 - M. Hailwood 1965 - M. Hailwood 1966 - G. Agostini 1967 - G. Agostini 1968 - G. Agostini 1969 - G. Agostini 1970 - G. Agostini 1971 - G. Agostini 1972 - G. Agostini 1973 - P. Read 1974 - P. Read 1975 - G. Agostini 1976 - B. Sheene 1977 - B. Sheene 1978 - K. Roberts 1979 - K. Roberts 1980 - K. Roberts 1981 - M. Lucchinelli 1982 - F. Uncini 1983 - F. Spencer 1984 - E. Lawson 1985 - F. Spencer 1986 - E. Lawson 1987 - W. Gardner 1988 - E. Lawson 1989 - E. Lawson 1990 - W. Rainey 1991 - W. Rainey 1992 - W. Rainey 1993 - K. Schwantz 1994 - M. Doohan 1995 - M. Doohan 1996 - M. Doohan 1997 - M. Doohan 1998 - M. Doohan 1999 - À. Crivillé 2000 - K. Roberts, Jr. 2001 - V. Rossi 2002 - V. Rossi 2003 - V. Rossi 2004 - V. Rossi 2005 - V. Rossi 2006 - N. Hayden 2007 - C. Stoner

v • d • e 350 cc Motorcycle World Champions     1949 - F. Frith 1950 - B. Foster 1951 - G. Duke 1952 - G. Duke 1953 - F. Anderson 1954 - F. Anderson 1955 - B. Lomas 1956 - B. Lomas 1957 - K. Campbell 1958 - J. Surtees 1959 - J. Surtees 1960 - J. Surtees 1961 - G. Hocking 1962 - J. Redman 1963 - J. Redman 1964 - J. Redman 1965 - J. Redman 1966 - M. Hailwood 1967 - M. Hailwood 1968 - G. Agostini 1969 - G. Agostini 1970 - G. Agostini 1971 - G. Agostini 1972 - G. Agostini 1973 - G. Agostini 1974 - G. Agostini 1975 - J. Cecotto 1976 - W. Villa 1977 - T. Katayama 1978 - K. Ballington 1979 - K. Ballington 1980 - J. Ekerold 1981 - A. Mang 1982 - A. Mang

v • d • e 250 cc Motorcycle World Champions     1949 - B. Ruffo 1950 - D. Ambrosini 1951 - B. Ruffo 1952 - E. Lorenzetti 1953 - W. Haas 1954 - W. Haas 1955 - H. Müller 1956 - C. Ubbiali 1957 - C. Sandford 1958 - T. Provini 1959 - C. Ubbiali 1960 - C. Ubbiali 1961 - M. Hailwood 1962 - J. Redman 1963 - J. Redman 1964 - P. Read 1965 - P. Read 1966 - M. Hailwood 1967 - M. Hailwood 1968 - P. Read 1969 - K. Carruthers 1970 - R. Gould 1971 - P. Read 1972 - J. Saarinen 1973 - D. Braun 1974 - W. Villa 1975 - W. Villa 1976 - W. Villa 1977 - M. Lega 1978 - K. Ballington 1979 - K. Ballington 1980 - A. Mang 1981 - A. Mang 1982 - J. Tournadre 1983 - C. Lavado 1984 - C. Sarron 1985 - F. Spencer 1986 - C. Lavado 1987 - A. Mang 1988 - S. Pons 1989 - S. Pons 1990 - J. Kocinski 1991 - L. Cadalora 1992 - L. Cadalora 1993 - T. Harada 1994 - M. Biaggi 1995 - M. Biaggi 1996 - M. Biaggi 1997 - M. Biaggi 1998 - L. Capirossi 1999 - V. Rossi 2000 - O. Jacque 2001 - D. Kato 2002 - M. Melandri 2003 - M. Poggiali 2004 - D. Pedrosa 2005 - D. Pedrosa 2006 - J. Lorenzo 2007 - J. Lorenzo