Mike Hailwood

Mike Hailwood, born in Great Milton, England has a long string of achievements, including those earned after an 11 year absence from the sport. With nine World Championship titles across three different classes, 14 wins in the Isle of Man TT and 76 Grand Prix victories, Mike Hailwood was more than a legend.

Mike-the-Bike, as he was nicknamed, Hailwood's Grand Prix victories include 37 in the 500cc class, 16 in the 350cc class and 21 in the 250 cc class, and also two in the 125cc category. His World Championship career began in 1958, when Hailwood was only a teenager. He tried his luck in three categories, the 500cc, 350cc and the 250cc, and in his first season itself he managed three podiums.

By the age of 19, Hailwood already had several domestic British championships and even a South African national title under his belt. In 1959, he became the youngest rider to win a Grand Prix, a victory he attained on his 125cc Ducati, in Ireland.

His graph kept progressing upwards in the 1960 season in Mondial, on Norton machinery. The following year, Hailwood won his first World Championship title in the 250cc class, on a Honda.

In 1961, Hailwood drove for MV Agusta, and managed another successful season with a runner up position in the 500cc category. In 1962, Hailwood won the first of his four consecutive premier class title with the Italian marque. He won every single race he participated in from 1962 till 1965, on 500cc machinery.

In 1966 Hailwood returned to Honda, and won double World Championship title, in 250cc and 350cc classes. He managed to remain undefeated for two more seasons in these categories, before leaving the Grand Prix scene.

1967 Hailwood won the Isle of Man TT, defeating Giacomo Agostini, his archrival, who also replaced him in MV Agusta in 1966. Gaicomo Agostini had taken the 500cc title from Hailwood and the win at Isle of Man TT was one of the best displays of talent in the history of the sport. It marked his 12th win in the famous event.

Hailwood switched to Formula One racing and became a respectable driver in the sport, but a tragic crash in 1974, resulted in a severely broken leg, and also his retirement from four-wheel competition.

Remarkably, Hailwood managed to make a return to the Isle of Man TT in 1978, and he won the F1 category on his Ducati 900SS, and the next season he won the event the 14th and final time on a Suzuki. In March, 1981, Mike Hailwood, died in a tragic road accident, but he left a legacy of achievements behind.