Biking Legends: Mike Hailwood

At the time of his death in 1981, Mike Hailwood was acknowledged as the greatest motorcycle racer of all time.

The stats alone leave little room for doubt: when he retired from the sport, he had amassed 76 Grand Prix wins, 112 podiums, nine world championships, 11 British championships, and more TT race wins than any competitor in history
at that point (14).

He also enjoyed success on four wheels, lifting the European Formula 2 championship before graduating to Formula 1, racing for his old rival John Surtees – the only man to ever win world titles on two wheels and four.

Hailwood might have matched Surtees’ feat had his career not been cut short due to serious injuries sustained in 1974. One year earlier, he had been awarded the George Medal (the civilian equivalent of a Victoria Cross) for his bravery in pulling Clay Regazzoni from his burning Formula 1 car, thereby saving the Swiss driver’s life…