Mike Hailwood

Mike Hailwood was born in 1940 in Oxford, UK, and was perhaps the greatest rider of all time. His father, Stan Hailwood, was very rich and his first fan, by providing him with everything he needed to race motorcycles. 

Mike raced his first competition in 1957, at the age of 17, at the Oulton Park circuit in England riding an MV 125. He immediately showed great natural talent, so much so that the following year he was already English Champion in 125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc categories. 

His first participation in the Tourist Trophy occurred in 1957, and he ranked seventh riding a Paton 125 with a 2-stroke engine. 

One of the anecdotes that makes Mike Hailwood one of the most extraordinary riders of all time is his 1958 participation in all four races of the Tourist Trophy, ranking third in the eighth litre, seventh in the fourth litre, twelfth in the 250 and thirteenth in the 500. 

One of Hailwood's most epic feats was at the Isle of Man.

The same Count Domenico Augusta was very impressed by this great performance and in 1961 he hired Hailwood to form a motorcycle and rider combination that in the following years proved to be unbeatable, by winning four consecutive world titles from 1962 to 1965. 

In 1978 he received the proposal to compete again in the Tourist Trophy with a Ducati 900 SS. During qualification runs Hailwood was the fastest, and confirmed in the race, where he triumphed over Phil Read and his Honda passing between two sides of a crowd in raptures. 

With this triumphant return, Mike became the legendary "Mike the Bike" and Ducati had an incredible worldwide publicity.