Mike Hailwood : biography
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM (2 April 1940 – 23 March 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.
Footnotes
Legacy
An annual "Mike Hailwood Memorial Run" takes place in March. The starting 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.
Hailwood retired with 76 Grand Prix victories, 112 Grand Prix podiums, 14 Isle of Man TT wins and 9 World Championships, including 37 Grand Prix wins, 48 Grand Prix podiums, 6 Isle of Man TT wins and 4 World Championships in 500cc. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1979. 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.
After Hailwood’s victory at the 1978 Isle of Man Formula One motorcycle race, Ducati offered a 900SS-based Mike Hailwood Replica for sale. Approximately 7,000 were sold.
In 1981, part of the TT course was named Hailwood’s Height in his honour.
Auto racing career
During his auto racing career, Hailwood never achieved the same level of success that he had on motorcycles. He posted respectable results in Formula One and World Sports Cars. He won the 1972 Formula Two European title and earned a podium finish at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hailwood participated in 50 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the British Grand Prix on 20 July 1963. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored a total of 29 championship points. Hailwood was in contention for a victory at his first Formula One race in 6 years, the 1971 Italian Grand Prix. He and 3 other drivers finished 1-2-3-4 over two-tenths of a second, Hailwood finishing fourth. Hailwood was recognised for his bravery 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 badly at the 1974 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
Sources
- 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Motorcycle Grand Prix results
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | 125 cc | Paton | IOM7 | BEL- | GER- | SWE- | ULS- | NAT- | 0 | – | 0 | |||||||
Ducati | NED10 | |||||||||||||||||
250 cc | NSU | IOM3 | NED4 | GERRet | SWE2 | ULSRet | NAT- | 13 | 4th | 0 | ||||||||
350 cc | Norton | IOM12 | NED5 | BEL- | GER4 | SWE3 | ULS8 | NAT- | 9 | 6th | 0 | |||||||
500 cc | Norton | IOM13 | NED- | BEL- | GER- | SWE- | ULS- | NAT- | 0 | – | 0 | |||||||
1959 | 125 cc | Ducati | IOM3 | GER3 | NED3 | BELRet | SWE4 | ULS1 | NAT8 | 20 | 3rd | 1 | ||||||
250 cc | FB-Mondial | IOMRet | GER5 | NED4 | SWE5 | ULS2 | 13 | 5th | 0 | |||||||||
MZ | NAT9 | |||||||||||||||||
350 cc | Norton | FRA- | IOMRet | GER- | 2 | 13th | 0 | |||||||||||
AJS | SWE5 | ULSRet | NAT- | |||||||||||||||
500 cc | Norton | FRA- | IOMRet | GER- | NED- | BEL13 | ULS- | NATRet | 0 | – | 0 | |||||||
1960 | 125 cc | Ducati | IOMRet | NED8 | BEL6 | ULS- | NAT- | 1 | 10th | 0 | ||||||||
250 cc | Ducati | IOMRet | BEL4 | GER- | ULS4 | NATRet | 8 | 5th | 0 | |||||||||
FB-Mondial | NED5 | |||||||||||||||||
350 cc | AJS | FRA- | IOMRet | NED- | ULS- | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||
Ducati | NATRet | |||||||||||||||||
500 cc | Norton | FRA- | IOM3 | NED5 | BEL4 | GER- | ULSRet | NAT3 | 13 | 6th | 0 | |||||||
1961 | 125 cc | EMC | ESP4 | GERRet | FRA4 | 16 | 6th | 1 | ||||||||||
Honda | IOM1 | NEDRet | BELRet | DDRRet | ULS5 | NAT- | SWE- | ARG- | ||||||||||
250 cc | FB-Mondial | ESPRet | 44 | 1st | 4 | |||||||||||||
Honda | GER8 | FRA2 | IOM1 | NED1 | BEL3 | DDR1 | ULS2 | NAT2 | SWE1 | ARG- | ||||||||
350 cc | AJS | GERRet | IOMRet | NED- | DDR- | ULS- | 6 | 8th | 0 | |||||||||
MV Agusta | NAT2 | SWE7 | ||||||||||||||||
500 cc | Norton | GER4 | FRA2 | IOM1 | NED2 | BEL2 | DDR2 | ULS2 | 40 | 2nd | 2 | |||||||
MV Agusta | NAT1 | SWE2 | ARG- | |||||||||||||||
1962 | 125 cc | EMC | ESP4 | FRARet | IOMRet | NED5 | BEL4 | GER3 | ULS- | DDR- | NATRet | FIN- | ARG- | 12 | 5th | 0 | ||
MZ | FINRet | |||||||||||||||||
250 cc | Benelli | ESP- | FRA- | IOMRet | NED- | BEL- | GER- | ULS- | NATRet | ARG- | 0 | – | 0 | |||||
MZ | DDR2 | |||||||||||||||||
350 cc | MV Agusta | IOM1 | NED2 | ULSRet | DDR2 | NAT- | FIN- | 20 | 3rd | 1 | ||||||||
500 cc | MV Agusta | IOM12 | NED1 | BEL1 | ULS1 | DDR1 | NAT1 | FIN- | ARG- | 40 | 1st | 5 | ||||||
1963 | 250 cc | MZ | ESP- | GER- | IOM- | NED- | BEL- | ULS- | DDR1 | NAT- | ARG- | JPN- | 8 | 8th | 1 | |||
350 cc | MV Agusta | GER- | IOMRet | NED2 | ULS2 | DDR1 | FIN1 | NATRet | 28 | 2nd | 2 | |||||||
500 cc | MV Agusta | IOM1 | NEDRet | BEL1 | ULS1 | DDR1 | FIN1 | NAT1 | ARG1 | 56 | 1st | 7 | ||||||
1964 | 250 cc | MZ | USA- | ESP- | FRA- | IOM- | NED- | BEL- | GER- | DDRRet | ULS- | NAT- | JPN5 | 2 | 20th | 0 | ||
350 cc | MV Agusta | IOM- | NED2 | GER- | DDR- | ULS- | FIN- | NAT- | JPN2 | 12 | 4th | 0 | ||||||
500 cc | MV Agusta | USA1 | IOM1 | NED1 | BEL1 | GER1 | DDR1 | ULS- | FIN- | NAT1 | 40 | 1st | 7 | |||||
1965 | 250 cc | Honda | USA- | GER- | ESP- | FRA- | IOM- | NED- | DDR- | CZE- | ULS- | FIN- | NAT- | JPN1 | 8 | 10th | 1 | |
350 cc | MV Agusta | GER2 | IOMRet | NED2 | DDRRet | CZERet | ULS- | FIN- | NATRet | JPN1 | 20 | 3rd | 1 | |||||
500 cc | MV Agusta | USA1 | GER1 | IOM1 | NED1 | BEL1 | DDR1 | CZE1 | ULS- | FIN- | NAT1 | 48 | 1st | 8 | ||||
1966 | 125 cc | Honda | ESP- | GER- | NED- | DDR- | CZE- | FIN- | ULS- | IOM6 | NAT- | JPN- | 1 | 15th | 0 | |||
250 cc | Honda | ESP1 | GER1 | FRA1 | NED1 | BEL1 | DDR1 | CZE1 | FIN1 | ULS- | IOM1 | NAT1 | JPN- | 56 | 1st | 10 | ||
350 cc | Honda | GER1 | FRA1 | NED1 | DDRRet | CZE1 | FIN1 | ULS1 | IOMRet | NAT- | JPN- | 48 | 1st | 6 | ||||
500 cc | Honda | GER- | NEDRet | BELRet | DDRRet | CZE1 | FIN2 | ULS1 | IOM1 | NATRet | 30 | 2nd | 3 | |||||
1967 | 250 cc | Honda | ESPRet | GER- | FRA3 | IOM1 | NED1 | BEL2 | DDRRet | CZE3 | FIN1 | ULS1 | NATRet | CAN1 | JPNRet | 50 | 1st | 5 |
350 cc | Honda | GER1 | IOM1 | NED1 | DDR1 | CZE1 | ULS- | NAT- | JPN1 | 40 | 1st | 6 | ||||||
500 cc | Honda | GERRet | IOM1 | NED1 | BEL2 | DDRRet | CZE1 | FINRet | ULS1 | NAT2 | CAN1 | 46 | 2nd | 5 |