Mike Hailwood MBE GM

Mike Hailwood critically hurt in crash

By a Staff Reporter

Mr Mike Hailwood, former world motor cycling champion, was critically ill in Birmingham hospital yesterday after a road accident in which his daughter, Michelle, aged nine, died.

Mr Hailwood, aged 41, nine times world motor cycling champion, who was awarded the George Medal for bravery in 1973 after rescuing Clay Regazzoni from a blazing car during the South African Grand Prix, was in Birmingham Accident Hospital with severe head injuries.

The accident was on Saturday evening on the A435 near the Warwickshire - Worcestershire border when Mr Hailwood's Rover was in a collision with a lorry. His son, David, aged six, was slightly injured, but was discharged from hospital yesterday.

Mr Hailwood built up a reputation as a very safe rider in hundreds of motor cycly races; his only serious injury came when he switched from two wheels to four and crashed in the German Grand Prix in 1974. He gave up serious car racing after that accident when he had to be cut from his car and had a compound fracture of his right knee and leg.

In 1978, he returned to motor cycle racing and won the Isle of Man TT for the fourteenth time.

[London Times 23 March 1981]

OBITUARY

MIKE HAILWOOD

A great motor cycle champion


Mike Hailwood, MBE, GM, who won 10 world motor cycle championships, died yesterday at the age of 40, as a result of injuries he had sustained in a car accident on March 21.

Hailwood was perhaps the greatest ever exponent of the art of motor cycle racing, and his apparent invincibility on the motor cycle circuit in his day made him something of a legend in his lifetime. His heyday was the 1960's during which he amassed a formidable tally of world championships and other titles. He had also been interested in car racing during these years and after 1967, when he ceased motor cycle racing, applied himself seriously to this branch of motor sport, with some, though not comparable, success.

But the lure of motor cycle competition never left him and in his late thirties he made an almost storybook return to the Isle of Man circuit to win himself his tenth and last world championship in the 1970s.

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood was born April 4, 1940, the son of millionaire motor cycle dealer Stanley Hailwood. He followed his father's footsteps into motor cycle racing as soon as he was old enough and won his first world champiomnship and first Senior TT at the age of 21. During the period 1961-67 he won no fewer than nine world championships, 75 grand prix and 12 Isle of Man TTs. His early successes were on MV Augusta machines but later he rode Hondas.

Anxious to make his mark on four wheels, too, he dabbled with Formula One racing in the early 1960s in a private Lotus but he had to wait until 1971 for success in his car racing career. He finished second in the European Formula 5000 championships in 1971 and embarked upon his first full-time Formula One season in 1972 for Team Surtees, of which he was the team leader. He finished eighth in the championship and also won the European Formula Two championship.

A self-effacing, modest man, Hailwood was awarded the George Medal in 1973 for his courage after he pulled the Swiss racing driver Clay Reggazzoni from a blazing car during the South African Grand Prix. "Hailwood", read the citation, "totally ignored his own safety and the intensity of the flames."

In 1974 a serious accident during the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring put an end to his car racing career. Crashing heavily in the 13th lap of the race, he had to be cut from his car suffering from a compound fracture of his right knee and severe ankle injuries. Regazzoni won the race.

As a result of the accident Hailwood retired from motor racing and took his wife and two children off to New Zealand to start a new life.

However in 1978 he stunned the motor cycle racing world with a return to the sport he had graced for so long, adding yet another world championship title to his tally and breaking the Isle of Man lap record in the process. He was then 38. He finally retired in 1979, after achieving yet another TT victory, to become head of a motor cycle business in Birmingham.

Despite his often deceptively casual manner Mike Hailwood possessed a steely determination and a remarkable talent. He is survived by his wife, Pauline, and son, David. His daughter, Michelle died instantly in the same accident.

[London Times 1981]

Moved to Tributes forum.

Ben

Great book - 'A man called Mike', but an even greater man. Doubt we'll see the likes of him again (maybe Valentino is the closest?)

Doesn't seem like a quarter of a century ago. Tragic and unnecessary road accident. We still miss you, Mike.

RIP Mike and Michelle

By all accounts Mike was an amazing character and one of the greatest motorsports people ever to come from Britain. His death, and that of his daughter, both at such a young age and in such circumstances was an awful tragedy. I keep reading that the accident he was involved in was an incredible freak, but haven't read any details of it. Does anyone have an account of exactly what happened and why it was freak ? In the bigger scheme of things it doesn't really matter at all, but its something I've always wanted to put closure on since I was a kid.

davyboy, if memory serves me correctly, a lorry driver in the outside lane of a dual carriageway attempted an illegal U-turn, giving poor Mike nowhere to go. However, if you feel the need to discuss this tragedy further, may I respectfully ask you to start a new thread outside of the tribute forum. Thanks.

Thanks for that John... its OK, I don't need to know any more.

Thanks for that John... its OK, I don't need to know any more.

http://www.mikethebike.com/home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hailwood

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A9405119