Few sportsmen have made such an indelible impact on the fast moving worlds of motorcycle and car racing as the legendary MIKE HAILWOOD®. The son of a millionaire who bought him the best machinery that money could buy, he quickly cast aside the 'rich man's kid' image which had been thrust upon him to earn the respect and admiration of his peers through the enormity of his talent, the strength of his personality and his outrageous sense of fun.

He won nine motorcycle World Championships between 1961 and 1967, then turned to motor racing, following in the wheel tracks of John Surtees, with whose cars he became European Formula 2 Champion and began his Formula 1 career. In time he might well have added a Formula 1 World Championship to his list of achievements, but his motor racing career ended abruptly in 1974 when he crashed his McLaren on Germany's daunting Nurburgring.

Disabled by his leg injuries, he retired to New Zealand, where he quickly became bored, and by 1978, at the age of 38, he was back at the Isle of Man, the scene of so many of his earlier triumphs, not only to race bikes once again, but to take on and beat the entire field. His victorious return to 'The Island' has been described as one of the most emotional moments of 20th century sport.

From the book 'A Man Called Mike' by Christopher Hilton

Isle of Man Classic event September 2018 - FIND OUT MORE

Many thanks........

With many thanks for the support of photographers and writers, Mick Woollett, Nick Nicholls, the late Volker Rauch, Murray Walker, Ted Macauley, Christopher Hilton, Peter Carrick; of Geoff and Peter Duke of Duke Marketing; of expert engineers and good friends Steve Wynne, and Nobby Clark; of fellow bike racers, some of which were Mike’s closest friends, Paddy Driver, Luigi Taveri, Tommy Robb, Ralph Bryans, Giacomo Agostini, Jim Redman, Phil Read, and many more; of fellow car drivers, David Hobbs, Peter Gethin, Derek Bell, John Watson, and especially Richard Attwood.

A big thank you to all of our licensees and business associates, we really appreciate your support, but extra special thanks must go to Jeremy Gill, for his excellent work in re-designing and maintaining this website. Jeremy have been such a marvelous help and is an integral part of the success of this website.

There are many more people to thank, especially all of Mike's sponsors in the past, and you, Mike's fans, so our apologies if we have not mentioned you here by name, but you know who you are and we thank each and every one of you most sincerely.

Warmly - - Pauline & David Hailwood