| Geoff Duke OBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Geoff Duke (1951) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1923-03-29)29 March 1923 St. Helens,Lancashire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 May 2015(2015-05-01) (aged 92) Isle of Man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Geoffrey Ernest DukeOBE (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015), born inSt. Helens,Lancashire, was a British multiplemotorcycleGrand Prixroad racing world champion.[1] He raced several brands of motorcycle:Norton,Gilera,BMW,NSU andBenelli.[2] After retirement from competition, he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man.
After reaching the status of Team Sergeant in theRoyal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, The White Helmets,[3] Duke was a prominent figure in racing in the 1950s, winningsix world championships and sixIsle of Man TT races.[1] First entering the Isle of ManManx Grand Prix in 1948, he retired after four laps of the Junior race. He came to prominence after the 1949 events, finishing second in the Junior race, after remounting due to a spill, and winning the Senior race with a record lap and race-average speeds.[4][5][6] He also won the 1949Senior Clubmans TT.[7] He signed to theNorton works team for the1950 TT, finishing second in theJunior TT and breaking both lap and race records in theSenior TT.
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After winning three World Championships for Norton, he moved abroad to Italian motorcycle manufacturer,Gilera in1953.[8] With Gilera, he had a string of three consecutive500 cc world championships.[1] His support for a riders' strike demanding more start money led theFIM to suspend him for six months, dashing any hopes for a fourth consecutive title.[8][9] For 1953 he joined thesports car racing team ofAston Martin (Feltham, Middlesex) to race theDB3.[10] Teamed withPeter Collins, the pair led the12 Hours of Sebring until Duke's accident and resultingDNF. In1955 he was declared the first rider to lap the Isle of Man TT course at 100 mph, though this was later corrected to 99.97.[11] As a consequence the official first 100 mph lap is credited toBob McIntyre, also on a Gilera, in 1957. Duke was a non-starter because of injury. His final race was the 1959 Nations Grand Prix.
Duke briefly dabbled inFormula One, entering the1961 German Grand Prix in a privateCooper-Climax.[12] Although forced to withdraw from that event as his car was not yet ready, he did race in the non-championshipKanonloppet atKarlskoga two weeks later.[13]
In1963, he formed a racing team –Scuderia Duke, with ridersDerek Minter andJohn Hartle – to race the 1957 Gileras againstMike Hailwood riding theMV Agusta.[8]
During 1964, Duke was appointed Competition Manager forRoyal Enfield motorcycles, helping to develop their newGP250 clubman's-category volume-productionroad racer.[14][15][16][17]
For the 1965International Six Days Trial held on the Isle of Man, Duke was instrumental in helping to devise the 1,000-mile course and sections held on an island measuring approximately 30 miles long by 10 miles wide, particularly using tracks which would be unavailable in mainland UK due to restrictive legislation, a problem which did not arise on self-governing Isle of Man. Additionally, the island had hotels easily able to cater for the visiting teams, followers and spectators with a traditional goodwill and enthusiasm towards motorcycle sport. Duke acted as Clerk of the Course to theACU, the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain including the Isle of Man, which interacted with theFIM international organisation.[18]
In 1967, Duke acted as entrant for the class-winningTriumph Bonneville ridden byJohn Hartle in the 750 cc capacity section of the newly introduced for 1967Production class, which required racing machines to be based on roadsters, complying with controlled specifications using selected adaptations only, available from the manufacturers as part-numbered inventory.[19]
Duke was the most famous rider to adopt one-piece leathers - he had enlisted his local tailor, Frank Barker, to make the first of his now famous one-piece race suits. Duke had previously used a one-piece lining under his two-piece leather racing suit, to facilitate easy movement, for which he received "ribald remarks from my team-mates!"[20] He was named Sportsman of the Year in 1951, and was awarded theRACSegrave Trophy.[21][22]
He is also known to popularize the "centered" riding style, whereby keeping himself on the saddle while cornering and keeping his upper body on the same lean angle as the bike. He also dismissed the notion of the "body leaning out" riding style would only be afad. It had since been proven false after his passing, mostly because he was riding on less powerful machinery with thinner all-weather tyres.[23]
Duke was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1953 New Year Honours "for services to British Motor-Cycle racing."[24]
He was one of many signatories in a letter toThe Times on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'.[25]
After retiring from racing, Duke became a businessman, initially in the motor trade and later in shipping services to the Isle of Man. In 1978, he was instrumental in setting up theManx Line that introduced the first roll-on-roll-off ferry service to the island in competition with the 150-year-oldIsle of Man Steam Packet Company[26] TheFIM named him aGrand Prix "Legend" in 2002.[27]
Highly honoured by theIsle of Man, where he made so many of his world record breaking rides, a point on the mountain section of theTT Course was named after him in 2003. Three sharp bends at the 32nd Milestone between Brandywell andWindy Corner now carry the title 'Duke's'.[28]
He died, aged 92, at his home on the Isle of Man on 1 May 2015 after being ill for some time.[29] Duke's funeral cortege assembled atTT Grandstand, Glencrutchery Road, Douglas, Isle of Man on 10 May, prior to a last lap of theSnaefell Mountain Course, followed by a private family funeral service.[30][31]
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)
| Year | Class | Motorcycle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | IOM | BEL | NED | SUI | ULS | NAT | |||||||
| 350 cc | Norton | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2nd | 24 (28) | |||||
| 500 cc | Norton | 1 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2nd | 27 | ||||
| 1951 | ESP | SUI | IOM | BEL | NED | FRA | ULS | NAT | |||||
| 350 cc | Norton | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 32 (40) | |||
| 500 cc | Norton | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1st | 35 (37) | |||
| 1952 | SUI | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | ULS | NAT | ESP | |||||
| 350 cc | Norton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 32 | ||||||
| 500 cc | Norton | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 7th | 12 | ||||||
| 1953 | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | FRA | ULS | SUI | NAT | ESP | ||||
| 500 cc | Gilera | Ret | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 38 | |||
| 1954 | FRA | IOM | ULS | BEL | NED | GER | SUI | NAT | ESP | ||||
| 500 cc | Gilera | Ret | 2 | C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 40 (46) | ||
| 1955 | ESP | FRA | IOM | GER | BEL | NED | ULS | NAT | |||||
| 500 cc | Gilera | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 1st | 36 | |||
| 1956 | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | ULS | NAT | |||||||
| 500 cc | Gilera | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | 7th | 8 | ||||||
| 1957 | GER | IOM | NED | BEL | ULS | NAT | |||||||
| 350 cc | Gilera | Ret | Ret | - | 0 | ||||||||
| 500 cc | Gilera | 3 | 2 | 4th | 10 | ||||||||
| 1958 | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | SWE | ULS | NAT | ||||||
| 350 cc | Norton | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3rd | 17 | |||
| 500 cc | BMW | Ret | Ret | 4 | Ret | 3rd | 13 | ||||||
| Norton | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 1959 | FRA | IOM | GER | NED | BEL | SWE | ULS | NAT | |||||
| 250 cc | NSU | Ret | 10th | 5 | |||||||||
| Benelli | 6 | 3 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 350 cc | Norton | 4 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 5th | 10 | ||||||
| 500 cc | Norton | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4th | 12 | ||||||
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| National | |
