Yes, that's our man!
Thanks for playing!
While compiling my data base, it occured to me that Wheelie might be the one to have reached the 'century' first, and when I finally made a query it turned out to be true! Notabene the db is still under construction, and growing on an almost daily basis, so these 'preliminary results' are very much under 'caveat', but they still make for interesting study: I have identified about 75 riders to join the 'Club 100' (a number sure to grow over time), and next to enter are Taveri, Hailwood and Redman (all in 1963), then 'tiddlers' Hugh Anderson and Ernst Degner in '65, Tommy Robb, Phil Read and Jack Findlay in '67, Dan Shorey (!) and Franta Stastny in '69, Gyula Marsovszky (!) and Ago in '70, Pagani and Perris in '71, Simmonds in '72, then Bo Granath (!!) and Billie Nelson in '73, Dieter Braun, Angel Nieto, Kent Andersson, John Dodds and Chas Mortimer in '74 before the floodgates really open in the late seventies/early eighties: Bruno Kneubühler, Cees van Dongen (!), Tom Herron, Ollie Chevallier, Walter Villa, Lazzarini, Mang, Hans Müller (!!), Fernandez, Dörflinger, van Kessel and even Barry Sheene. Guess who's the first Japanese to enter? Dane might've known him personally, although it's possible they just missed out on encountering each other... yes, it's Masato Kumano!! (Unless I find seven more race crashes for Katayama-san, that is...) I could study this list for hours... Five even made it to the 'Club 200': Phil Read first, by a matter of weeks over Findlay and Ago (so subject to possible change), then Nieto and finally... Kneubühler! The Swiss make a good showing in general, but perhaps it's to do with me using lots of Swiss sources...?
So, Arthur Wheeler... interesting chap, isn't he? Started early on his 'century' by finishing 20th in the very first world championship race ever, just ahead of... Eric Oliver!! Travelled to Assen often, basically every year, and also made lots of other world championship venues: Clady and Dundrod of course, Spa-Francorchamps, Albi, Monza, Solitude, Nürburgring, Kristianstad and... Buenos Aires! Won at Monza in 1954 when the only 250cc factory team that year, NSU withdrew after the Hollaus tragedy in practice, and then again in the Argentine when no factory teams and no other European privateers made the journey... but former double 500cc World Champion Umberto Masetti was there, having retired years before to live in South America, and now competing on an equally old Morini and very nearly stealing away the win! Wheeler also made 'the podium' twice in the Ulster GP, once each at Clady and Dundrod, but always in the 250cc class, which was his favourite - he also took five wins in the Northwest 200, and one in the Hutchinson 100 at Silverstone on the 'quarters', and mostly with his trusty Guzzi. Rode also Velocette, Excelsior, Triumph, Norton, BSA, AJS, Matchless, MV Agusta, Mondial, NSU, Ducati... Crashed badly at Salzburg's Liefering on May 1, 1960, missing the rest of the season due to injury, but still came back (in his mid fourties, already!) to become (allegedly) the oldest Grand Prix winner to this day! Then retired... until... well, it seems he returned to race in the classic races at the Manx GP in the eighties on his old Guzzi, that making a career lasting over half a century on the Mountain course (he first started there in 1937, retiring on his first lap of the Junior MGP... with a broken fork!!). After a few more Clubman's and Manx starts, he raced in the International TT for the first time in 1949, making mostly three, often four starts each year, and winning a total of 30 TT replicas (17 silver & 13 bronze, if I've got that right). Quite a life!