Mike Hailwood
Stanley Michael Bailey "Mike" Hailwood, MBE ( born April 2, 1940 in Oxford, England, † March 23, 1981 in Birmingham, England ) was a British motorcycle and automobile racing driver.
- 3.1 Literature
- 3.2 External links
- 3.3 Notes and references
Career
Hailwood won 1961-1967 nine world titles in classes 250, 350 and 500 cm ³. Overall, he won 76 victories in Grand Prix and is therefore in the time list behind Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, Ángel Nieto and Rolf Biland fifth. Also in the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man which came forth 14 times as the winner.
In his time as an active racing driver of the decline of the decades- long racing dominant British motorcycle industry fell. Mike Hailwood began his career on classic English racing machines. His father gave him as a motorcycle dealer and participation with various commercially available racing machines from Ducati, Honda or NSU for the smaller displacement classes. He often started with changing motorcycle brands in a variety of size classes. He arrived at MV Agusta under contract and moved to disputes to Honda. He ended his official GP motorcycle racing career in 1967 at Honda. The first race for Honda in 1961 he won the TT in the ultra-light weight class (up to 125 cc ) with a RC143, which he had received from Luigi Taveri. By the way he went but always national and international motorcycle race on racing machines of the brands BSA, MZ, Benelli, Norton and others.
Due to his inimitable style in the curve technique, his overgrown with the machine driving and, above all, because he could win on any motorcycle, he was awarded the honorary title of " Mike the Bike". One of the icons of motorcycle racing and one of the most famous depictions of Hailwood is a black and white poster from 1967, based on the six-cylinder Honda 250 cc shows him in the rear view in a strong bank, the three right exhaust pipes nearly horizontal flat over the road, the three left pipes towers, Hailwood right knee almost slips on the asphalt. A symbol of the running with full commitment racer.
In his 152 starts in the Motorcycle World Championship Mike Hailwood reach 76 wins, 112 podiums and 79 fastest laps.
From 1963 to 1965, 1971-1974, he also won 29 world championship points as a Formula 1 driver and managed it twice on the podium. During the South African Grand Prix in 1973, he rescued Clay Regazzoni 's life by pulling him from the burning car. After a serious accident in the Grand Prix of Germany at the Nürburgring in 1974, he finished his career in Formula 1
At 38, he returned back in 1978 on the Isle of Man and won on a Ducati 900 NCR Tourist Trophy.
On March 23, 1981 Hailwood came along with his nine- year-old daughter in a no fault car accident.