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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
Remembering
Mike - 40 years ago
2nd
April 1940 - 23rd March 1981
In 1978, after an 11 year retirement
from bikes, he made a fairytale 'comeback' to win
another IOM TT.
Following a car accident near Birmingham,
England in which his 9 year old daughter Michelle
was killed instantly; Mike and David were taken
to hospital, where Mike died two days later on 23rd
March 1981. |
Pauline Hailwood
Sadly, my mother, Pauline Hailwood passed away peacefully
on Saturday 13th June 2020 after a long illness.
She is with her beloved Mike and Michelle.
She will be sadly missed by her family and friends.
David Hailwood
& family
Eric
Bana To Play Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood
In
Story Widely Considered The Greatest Come Back In Sporting
History
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
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