David Hailwood Popular Books

David Hailwood Biography & Facts

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was an English professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle world championships from 1958 to 1967 and in Formula One between 1963 and 1974. Hailwood was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability on motorcycles with a range of engine capacities. A nine-time world champion, Hailwood won 76 Grand Prix races during his motorcycle racing career, including 14 Isle of Man TT victories and four consecutive 500 cc world championships. After his motorcycle racing career concluded, he went on to compete in Formula One and other classes of car racing, becoming one of the few men to compete at Grand Prix level in both motorcycle and car racing. He returned to motorcycle racing at the age of 38, taking victory at the 1978 Isle of Man TT. Hailwood died in 1981 following a road traffic accident in Warwickshire, England. Early life Hailwood was born at Langsmeade House, Great Milton in Oxfordshire, the only son and elder child of Stanley William Bailey Hailwood, a millionaire businessman and managing director of a motorcar sales company as well as successful motorcycle dealer. He had also raced, in the pre-World War II era. Hailwood had a comfortable upbringing; he learned to ride at a young age on a minibike as a small boy in a field near his home. He was educated at Purton Stoke Preparatory School, Kintbury, and Pangbourne Nautical College where he wore a RN cadet uniform, but left early and worked for a short time in the family business before his father sent him to work at Triumph motorcycles. Motorcycle racing career Hailwood saw his first race at age 10 with his father, and first spectated at the Isle of Man TT races in 1956.He first raced on 22 April 1957, at Oulton Park, finishing in 11th place. In 1958 he won ACU Stars at 125 cc, 250 cc, and 350 cc classes, earning him the Pinhard Prize, an accolade awarded yearly to a young motorcyclist under 21, who is adjudged to have made the most meritorious achievement in motorcycle sport during the preceding year. He teamed with Dan Shorey to win the Thruxton 500 endurance race and finished in four classes of TT race with one podium. By 1961, Hailwood was racing for up-and-coming Japanese factory Honda. In June 1961, he became the first man in the history of the Isle of Man TT to win three races in one week when he won in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc categories. He lost the chance at winning a fourth race when his 350 AJS failed with a broken gudgeon pin whilst leading. Riding a four-stroke, four-cylinder 250 cc 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.In February 1964 during preparations for the US Grand Prix, Hailwood set a new one-hour speed record on the MV 500 cc recording an average speed of 144.8 mph (233.0 km/h) on the oval-shaped, banked speed-bowl at the Daytona circuit. The previous record of 143 mph (230 km/h) was set by Bob McIntyre on a 350 cc Gilera at Monza in 1957. Hailwood then went on to win the GP race, which carried World Championship points, in the afternoon of the same day.During 1965, Hailwood entered selected UK events riding for the Tom Kirby Team. In heavy rain, Hailwood won the 1965 Hutchinson 100 Production race at the Silverstone circuit on a BSA Lightning Clubman entered by dealer Tom Kirby, beating the Triumph Bonnevilles entered by Syd Lawton. The 'Hutch' was a main production race of the season along with the Thruxton 500, so it was very important for manufacturers to establish the racing potential of their recent models. As this was production-based racing open to all entrants, 'official' works teams were ineligible; instead, machines were prepared and entered through well-established factory dealers. BSA Lightning Clubmans were ridden by Hailwood (carrying number 1 on the fairing) and factory rider Tony Smith, whilst Triumph Bonnevilles were ridden by World Champion Phil Read and works employee Percy Tait. Conditions were poor and Smith retired from the race at slippery Stowe Corner. Hailwood lapped at 83 mph (134 km/h) to establish his winning lead. After his successes with MV Agusta, Hailwood went back to Honda and won four more world titles in 1966 and 1967 in the 250 cc and 350 cc categories. At the 'Motor Cycle' 500 race at Brands Hatch in 1966, Hailwood demonstrated a Honda CB450 Black Bomber fitted with a sports fairing. It was unable to compete in the 500cc category, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) deeming that it was not classified as a production machine as it had two overhead camshafts.Hailwood enjoyed great success at the Isle of Man TT. By 1967, he had won 12 times on the island mountain course. 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. In that race he set a lap record of 108.77 mph (175.05 km/h) on the Honda RC181, that stood for the next eight years. After suffering breakdowns in 1967, Hailwood had intended to re-sign for Honda provided the 1968 machinery was to his satisfaction, and had relocated to South Africa where he started a building business with former motorcycle Grand Prix rider Frank Perris, completing their first house in October 1967, also selling one to ex-racer Jim Redman. Hailwood stated to Motorcycle Mechanics that even without suitable machinery from Honda he would not go elsewhere, preferring to retire prematurely and he would in any case finish at the end of the 1968 season. For 1968, Honda pulled out of Grand Prix racing, but paid Hailwood £50,000 (equivalent to over £870,000 at 2020 prices) not to ride for another team, in expectation of keeping him as its rider upon return to competition.Hailwood continued to ride Hondas during 1968 and 1969 in selected race meetings without World Championship status including European events in the Temporada Romagnola (Adriatic Season of street-circuits), sometimes wearing an unfamiliar plain-silver helmet, including on a 500 cc engined machine which used frames privately commissioned by Hailwood.Hailwood also appeared in selected UK events, in 1968 appearing in the post-TT race at Mallory Park on a Honda, and in 1969 he participated in the Mallory Park Race of the Year riding a SeeleyHe had already started to race cars and with no other factory racing teams available to compete against MV Agusta, Hailwood decided to pursue a career in car racing, placing third in the 1969 Le Mans 24-Hour race in France as a co-driver of a Ford GT40 with David Hobbs.In 1970, Hailwood was again lured back into bike racing, this time by the BSA team riding a Rocket 3 at the Daytona 200 race in Florida, part of a strong BSA/Triumph team. 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  • Death After Life synopsis, comments

    Death After Life

    David Hailwood

    A lowly supermarket shelf stacker chokes to death on a peanut during a zombie outbreak, and is rather disappointed to learn he still has to go in to work the next day. To make matt...