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| Brian Ball | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brian Ball was a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in only one Grand Prix race during the 1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, finishing the year in 12th place in the 500cc world championship. [1] At the 1968 Isle of Man TT, he finished second to Giacomo Agostini in the Senior TT.
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May and runs for thirteen days. It is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world as many competitors have died.
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, was an English professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle world championships from 1958 to 1967 and in Formula One between 1963 and 1974. Hailwood was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability on motorcycles with a range of engine capacities.
Thomas Kenrick Kavanagh was an Australian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racecar driver.
Giacomo Agostini is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 cc class, the rest in the 350 cc class. For these achievements obtained over the course of a career spanning 17 years, the AMA described him as "...perhaps the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time". In 2000, Agostini was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as a MotoGP Legend, while in 2010, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
The 1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 19th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 30 April, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on 15 October.
Phillip William Read, was an English professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1961 to 1976. Read is notable for being the first competitor to win world championships in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Mike Hailwood, he won seven FIM Grand Prix road racing world championships.
Carlo Ubbiali was an Italian nine-time World Champion motorcycle road racer. In the 1950s, he was a dominant force in the smaller classes of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, winning six 125cc and three 250cc world titles.
Reginald Armstrong was an Irish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was born in Dublin, grew up in Dublin and raced for the AJS, Velocette, Norton, NSU, and Gilera factory racing teams. He then became team manager for Honda's racing team in 1962 and 1963, and they won five world championships in that time. He was also in his lifetime a sales agent for NSU, Honda, and Opel. He competed in Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championships and at the Isle of Man TT, usually placing highly. He died in a road accident in 1979.
Dave Simmonds was a British professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Grand Prix world championships from 1963 to 1972. Simmonds is notable for winning the 1969 125 cc FIM road racing world championship.
Kelvin Carruthers is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. After his motorcycle riding career, he became race team manager for world championship winning riders Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson.
Dieter Braun is a German former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1968 to 1976. He won the 1970 FIM 125cc World Championship for Suzuki. In 1973, he rode a Yamaha TZ 250 to the 250 cc FIM world championship.
František Šťastný was a Czech Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
John Hartle was an English professional road racer who competed in national, international and Grand Prix motorcycle events.
Alfred Robert Foster was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed professionally from 1935 to 1951 and won the 1950 FIM 350cc Grand Prix world championship.
Graeme Crosby is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He is the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT.
Barry Smith is an Australian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.
Robert William Brian Steenson was a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best season was in 1968 when he finished the year in ninth place in the 350cc world championship. In 1969, Steenson finished second to Giacomo Agostini in the Isle of Man Junior TT. He was killed while competing in the 1970 Isle of Man TT.
The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.
Percy Tait was an English professional motorcycle road racer and senior road tester for Triumph motorcycles, where he was estimated to have covered over a million miles of road testing. He later became a farmer specialising in award-winning rare breeds of sheep.
Colin Jordan Seeley was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rotary race team.
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