16 replies to this topic

[Jagjon]

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981

[raygray11]

RIP
Greatest rider I ever saw in the island.

My Vincent log book signed by his dad Stan when they owned Kings of Oxford in the 50s and sold new Vincents amongst other makes.

[Classicpics]

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Simply the best

[Herr Wankel]

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Simply the best

No contest. He was the best,beyond doubt

HW

[omobono]

Totally agree. The Greatest !!

[SgtPepperoni]

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Simply the best

Can you believe I actually met the great man, not at the track, but socially. What an unassuming person he was. A great who behaved like a mere mortal.
I don't believe any one rider will ever be universally regarded as, "the greatest who ever lived", because it's not possible to prove such a claim, but if it were, SMB would definitely be in the running.
A great chamion, and a great guy. RIP Mike.

Edited by SgtPepperoni, 23 March 2013 - 17:30.

[sterling49]

I consider myself lucky to have seen him race on both two wheels and four.

[Paul Collins]

The announcement of his accident must have been one of those 'everyone remembers where they were' moments for anyone connected to the sport.

I'll always remember I was heading for a Newmarket Club meeting at Snetterton in the van and was just outside Kings Lynn when the 6am news came on the radio.

[PaulMar]

Can you believe I actually met the great man, not at the track, but socially. What an unassuming person he was. A great who behaved like a mere mortal.
I don't believe any one rider will ever be universally regarded as, "the greatest who ever lived", because it's not possible to prove such a claim, but if it were, SMB would definitely be in the running.
A great chamion, and a great guy. RIP Mike.

I also had the great, but all too brief, pleasure of meeting him at the 1978 TT. He had invited my then employer, and great friend until (very sadly) the 5th of October last year, Terry Shepherd for dinner at his hotel. Apparently Terry had, quite typically, been very helpful in terms of advice etc. to Mike when he first started racing and was obviously held in some regard. Anyway because Terry and I were working in the Island together I was very fortunately invited join them.

All I can say, is what a wonderful human being the man was. During the course of the evening he treated everybody who approached him with the utmost patience and courtesy. Even the, obviously non motorcycling, people who came to the table to ask the most inane questions in order to be photographed with him by their dinner companions. In my humble opinion Mike was not only the greatest of all time (after all who competes in 3 GP classes on the same day in these times) he was a true gentleman in every sense of the word.

Less than 3 years later, although I had only spent 3 or 4 hours in his company, because of Mike's genuine acceptance of ordinary people like myself, I felt as though I had lost a friend when he met his untimely end.

Incidentally, going by some of the tales related at the table, the press reports of his first motocycling career certainly weren't exaggerated.

PM

[raygray11]

Hi met Mike in the Island at the 1962 TT was having a ball in the Castle Mona bar one night and racing next morning with style.

His son David was untill last year involved with a firm local to me producing Vincent replicas also Egli Vincents and Norvins.

My old pal Bob Culver machined all the crankcases for them.

[Ralliart]

Imagine the races between Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini had circumstances been different and Hailwood had continued in motorcycle riding for, say, another five years. Surtees, Hailwood, Agostini, Rossi and Biland I rank as the five best.

[Tim Murray]

I know this link has been posted here in the past, but just in case some of the newer forum members may have missed it, here again is the fascinating reminiscence about Mike by his former girlfriend Elizabeth McCarthy:

http://8w.forix.com/hailwood.html

[knickerbrook]

I attended a family gathering in Henley-in-Arden (Warwickshire) today and took the opportunity to visit Mike's final resting place in the next village of Tanworth-in-Arden.

A surprisingly modest inscription gives no clue to the man's great achievements, but I guess he would have approved, as in life he didn't want to be treated differently to anyone else - a big factor in his universal popularity of course. So I thought I would share the moment.

 

https://youtu.be/5V6EZ6_UHuE

 

 

 

 

May you both rest in peace.

[tonupdave]

I was practising at the Hutchinson Hundred meeting at Silverstone some time in the early sixties...Mike and Paddy Driver came either side of me down the Hanger Straight and motioned me to tuck in behind for a tow.....No chance...After practise they both came over and asked how I got on as they reckoned that I was pretty quick...Mike was on the 250 Desmo Ducatti twin and paddy a G50.....Me a 500 Velo special.......Years later I brought the subject up with Paddy at the Goodwood festival of speed and he said that the G50 was running on Dope...I know not whether this is true....I was at a lot of meetings where Mike and other famous riders were competing and all were friendly and chatty and good for a laugh there were many pranks in the paddock in those days......( Yes I was one of those riders at the back of the field making up the numbers...Though there were some wins)...  

[Tim Murray]

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of Mike’s death, two days after the road accident which also took the life of his nine-year-old daughter Michelle. They are in my thoughts today, together with Mike’s widow Pauline who died last year. RIP.

[barrykm]

Wow, that made me stop and think...

[Rodaknee]

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of Mike’s death, two days after the road accident which also took the life of his nine-year-old daughter Michelle. They are in my thoughts today, together with Mike’s widow Pauline who died last year. RIP.

One of those awful events that you remember where you were when you heard about it.  I was on the M20, not far from Brands Hatch, going to a club trial in Maidstone when it came on the radio news.