Regarded as one of the greatest racers of all time, Mike Hailwood was known as "Mike The Bike" for his natural riding ability on a wide range of engine sizes. He was the first to ride 'frog style', a stabilizing technique still used to this day. He showed great promise at an early age and by 18 had won the Thruxton 500 endurance race with team mate Dan Shorey. Three years later he earned a spot racing on the up and coming Honda racing team and later that year was the first man in the history of the Isle of Man TT to win 3 races in one week, taking the 125c.c., 250c.c. and 500c.c. categories. The next year he raced with MV Agusta and became the first man to win four consecutive World Championships, all in the 500c.c. category. A few years later and Hailwood was at it again, this time winning four more World Titles in 1966 and 1967, in the 250c.c. and 350c.c. categories.
There were many other great wins and stories that went with them, including a dramatic and historically significant win against his great rival Giacomo Agostini in the '67 Isle Of Man Senior TT. Hailwood was so good that in 1968, Honda paid him today's equivalent of over $1 million to not race for another team, when they were forced to withdraw from the circuit.
Though he never had the same success in car racing, he did win a couple of Formula Two European Championships and the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. he was also awarded a medal of bravery for rescuing fellow racer Clay Regazzoni from his burning race car, despite catching his own racing suit on fire.
Hailwood retired with 76 Grand Prix victories, 112 Grand Prix podiums, 14
Isle of Man TT wins and 9 World Championships, including 37 Grand Prix wins, 48
Grand Prix podiums, 6 Isle of Man TT wins and 4 World Championships in
500cc. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1979. The FIM named
him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000. He was inducted
into the AMA Motorcycle Hall OF Fame in 2000 and the International Motorsports Hall OF Fame in 2001.
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