Mike Hailwood

Mike Hailwood

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1963 - 1965, 1971 - 1974
Teams	Lotus, Lola, Surtees, McLaren
Entries	50
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	2
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1963 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1974 German Grand Prix

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood MBE (April 2 1940 – March 23 1981) was a British nine-time motorcycle world champion and regarded by many as possibly the greatest motorcycle racer of all time. Later in his career he was also a Formula One driver. He was known as Mike "The Bike" because of his natural riding ability.

Mike Hailwood was born at Great Milton in Oxfordshire, the son of a millionaire Oxford car dealer. 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 motor cycles. He first raced on 22 April 1957, at Oulton Park. He married Pauline Barbara Nash on 11 June 1975 and had a son and a daughter.

Career

Hailwood won nine motorcycle world championships between 1961 and 1967. He also won 76 Grand Prix and 14 Isle of Man TT victories. He won his first four championships on the dominant MV Agusta. In 1966, he switched to Honda. Honda had the most powerful engines at the time, but were known as difficult to ride because of their weak chassis. Hailwood's great skill overcame the disadvantages however, to continue recording world championships until 1967. Honda pulled out of top level motor racing in 1968, but continued to pay Hailwood with the expectation of returning. Hailwood never returned to full-time motorcycle racing.

He participated in 50 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on July 20, 1963. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored a total of 29 championship points. He is best known in F1, not for winning, but saving the life of Clay Regazzoni. In the 1973 South African Grand Prix, Hailwood stopped his car on the circuit to pull Regazzoni from his burning car after an accident, an act for which he was awarded the George Medal that year (as was David Purley for an equally heroic, but unsuccesful, attempt to rescue Roger Williamson). He left Formula One after being injured at the 1974 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

In 1978, after an 11 year hiatus, he made a now legendary return to motorcycle racing at the age of 38! Racing at the Isle of Man TT races, he was not only competitive, but managed to win riding a Ducati 900SS.

Legacy

He was involved in a car accident on March 21 1981 and subsequently died of his injuries on 23 March 1981 at Selly Oak Accident Hospital. Michelle, his daughter, was killed instantly but his son David survived.

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. 2006 is the 25th anniversary of this tragic accident. More details of the run can be found at www.madeinbirmingham.org

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Year	Class	Classification	Machine	Victories
1958	250cc	4th	NSU	0
1958	350cc	6th	Norton	0
1959	125cc	3rd	Ducati	1
1959	250cc	5th	Mondial	0
1960	125cc	10th	Ducati	0
1960	250cc	5th	Mondial	0
1960	500cc	6th	Norton	0
1961	125cc	6th	Honda	1
1961	250cc	1st	Honda	4
1961	350cc	8th	MV Agusta	0
1961	500cc	2nd	MV Agusta	2
1962	125cc	5th	EMC	0
1962	350cc	3rd	MV Agusta	1
1962	500cc	1st	MV Agusta	5
1963	250cc	6th	MZ	1
1963	350cc	2nd	MV Agusta	2
1963	500cc	1st	MV Agusta	7
1964	350cc	4th	MV Agusta	0
1964	500cc	1st	MV Agusta	7
1965	250cc	10th	Honda	1
1965	350cc	3rd	MV Agusta	1
1965	500cc	1st	MV Agusta	8
1966	250cc	1st	Honda	10
1966	350cc	1st	Honda	6
1966	500cc	2nd	Honda	3
1967	250cc	1st	Honda	5
1967	350cc	1st	Honda	6
1967	500cc	2nd	Honda	5

Complete Formula One results

(Note: grands prix in bold denote points scoring races.)

Yr	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Team
1963	Lotu	MON	BEL	DUT	FRA	GBR	DEU	ITA	USA	MEX	SAF						Lola
1964	Lotu	MON	DUT	BEL	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	ITA	USA	MEX						Lotu
1965	Lotu	SAF	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	DUT	DEU	ITA	USA	MEX						Lotu
1971	Surt	SAF	SPA	MON	DUT	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA					Surt
1972	Surt	ARG	SAF	SPA	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA				Surt
1973	Surt	ARG	BRA	SAF	SPA	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	DUT	DEU	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	Surt
1974	McLa	ARG	BRA	SAF	SPA	BEL	MON	SWE	DUT	FRA	GBR	DEU	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	McLa

Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• " The Mike Hailwood Memorial Run" website