| Phil Read MBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Read in 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1939-01-01)1 January 1939 Luton,Bedfordshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 6 October 2022(2022-10-06) (aged 83) Canterbury, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Phillip William Read,MBE (1 January 1939 – 6 October 2022) was an English professionalmotorcycle racer. He competed inGrand Prix motorcycle racing from 1961 to 1976. Read is notable for being the first competitor to winworld championships in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes.[1][2] Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary,Mike Hailwood, he won sevenFIM Grand Prixroad racing world championships.
In the1979 Birthday Honours, Read was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to motor cycle racing".[3] In 2013, theF.I.M. inducted Read into theMotoGP Hall of Fame.[4]
Born in the largeBedfordshire town ofLuton on 1 January 1939,[5] Read was a keen road-rider and worked as an apprentice fitter atBrown and Green, a Luton manufacturer of industrial machinery. His first road machine was aVelocette KSS which he started on at the UK legal-minimum riding age of sixteen in 1955, followed by a BSA Gold Star DBD32.[6] He started amateur short-circuit racing in 1958 on aDukeBSA Gold Star.[7] In 1960 he won the JuniorManx Grand Prix on aManx Norton at record speed[7] followed by the Junior (350cc) TT race in 1961.[8] He placed second in the 350cc and 500cc races at the 1961North West 200 in Northern Ireland onManx Nortons.[9]
Read was a two-time winner of theThruxton 500 endurance race in 1962 and 1963 riding Syd Lawton's Norton Dominator 650SS machines.[10]
In 1963, the up and coming Read was temporarily drafted-in to fillDerek Minter's absence in theScuderia Duke Gilera Grand Prix team, as Minter had been seriously injured in May atBrands Hatch after a last-lap accident when dicing for the lead withDunstall rider Dave Downer, after which Downer died.[11][12]
The1963 Isle of Man Senior TT was won by Mike Hailwood on an MV Agusta, while the Duke team came 2nd (John Hartle) and 3rd (Read). In the followingDutch TT atAssen, the finishing order was: 1st (Hartle), 2nd (Read), with Mike Hailwood's MV retiring in the 500cc class. Read came second to Hailwood in the Belgium GP 500cc race. Minter recovered and returned in time to reclaim his team place for the next event, the Ulster GP at Dundrod in August. TheScuderia Duke Gilera Grand Prix team disbanded at the end of 1963.[11][12]
During the mid-1960s Yamaha had prolific riders in Read, CanadianMike Duff and laterBill Ivy. In1964, Read gaveYamaha their first world title when he won the 250cc class.[13] He would repeat as champion the following year.[1] For1966, Yamaha would introduce a new, four cylinder 250cc bike. Teething problems with the new engine meant he would lose the crown to Hailwood. In1967 he would battle Hailwood on his six-cylinderHonda all the way to the final round. They would end up tied but, Hailwood took the crown due to having five wins to Read's four.[1] Read took over fromFrank Perris in 1967 as representative for the Grand Prix Riders' Association.[14]
The1968 proved to be controversial for Read. The Yamaha factory had wanted Read to concentrate on winning the 125cc title and teammate Bill Ivy to take the 250cc crown. After winning the 125cc championship, Read decided to disobey team orders and fight Ivy for the 250cc title.[2] They finished the season tied in the points and Read was awarded the championship based on elapsed times. It proved a costly decision for Read, as Yamaha would never offer him another ride.[2]
In January 1969, Read lent his support to a project intended to provide racing engines to the general public – dubbedRead Weslake, it was a prototype Weslake four-stroke 500cc vertical twin, with four valves per cylinder and gear-driven camshafts. Initially the engine was installed into standardRickmanStreet Metisse frame intended for aTriumph Bonneville engine.
Read was to be rider and development consultant. He decided that the Metisse frame was too heavy, and despite intentions to manufacture a lighter race frame, he decided to abandon the Rickman frame in favour of a Reynolds frame built by Ken Sprayson for Tom Arter and his riderPeter Williams who had a project to replace their ageingMatchless G50.
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Read was to be based atWeslake inRye, England to develop the project further, releasing Peter Williams for his Norton work, but Read pulled out in November. The engine project continued, enlarging the capacity to 700cc in 1970 with some race entries sponsored by Geoff Monty before finally folding.[15]
After sitting out most of the1969 and1970 grand prix seasons when the major Japanese factories all withdrew from Grands Prix racing, he concentrated on the major British and European international meetings.
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Read returned full-time to the Grands Prix circuit in1971 on a very specialprivateer production Yamaha developed under the direction of the Dutchman, Ferry Brouwer with twin disc brakes, improved horsepower and aerodynamics together with help fromEric Cheney (frame),Helmut Fath (dry clutch) and Rod Quaife (six speed transmission) but no factory support.[16][failed verification] On this bike he was able win the first three Grands Prix of the season and go on to claim hisfifth world championship.[1]
Read began the1972 250cc season with victories in France and at the Isle of Man TT but failed to score consistently as Yamaha factory team riderJarno Saarinen won four of the last six Grand Prix races to clinch the 250cc World Championship, after a season-long battle withRenzo Pasolini andRod Gould.[17]
Read also had 'guest' rides as part of theJPS team Norton for 1972, finishing fourth in theDaytona 200 mile race. Other riders were Norton factory employeePeter Williams andTony Rutter as third rider. Rutter was soon replaced byJohn Cooper
In1972, Read accepted an offer to ride for theMV Agusta factory racing team in the 350cc class to help the defending World ChampionGiacomo Agostini fend off the increasing threat presented by Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. By the early 1970s, advancements in two-stroke engine technology were made obvious as Yamaha and their top rider Saarinen began to challenge Agostini and the dominant MV Agusta team for the first time in years. Saarinen won three races in the 1972 350cc World Championship, including a victory at the West German Grand Prix where he gave Agostini his first defeat in a head-to-head race since the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix.[17] Read took the victory at the 350cc East German Grand Prix after Agostini and Saarinen retired with mechanical problems, then finished second to Agostini at the 350cc Swedish Grand Prix to help Agostini successfully defend his 350cc World Championship. The threat from Yamaha's performance was so strong that the MV Agusta factory was forced to produce a new 350cc motorcycle.[2]
In1973, Read would compete for MV Agusta alongside Agostini in both the 350cc and 500cc classes. Yamaha developed a new 4-cylinder two-strokeYamaha YZR500 motorcycle for Saarinen which he rode to an early lead in the 500cc world championship with victories in France and Austria. Read scored his first victory of the year at the third round in West Germany when Saarinen's chain broke while he was challenging Read for the win.[17] Yamaha and Saarinen were leading the World Championship when an accident at the 1973 Nations Grand Prix claimed the lives of Saarinen and Pasolini. The loss of Saarinen caused Yamaha to withdraw their team from the World Championship out of respect for their fallen rider.[17]
Without any other significant opposition from other manufacturers, the MV Agusta team dominated the remainder of the season. Agostini took three victories to Read's two victories however, Agostini was unable to overcome an early season points deficit allowing Read to win his first World Championship in the premier 500cc division. His victory marked the first time that a World Championship had been won by a motorcycle using Lockheed disc brakes.[1][18] Read also won the prestigiousMallory Park Race of the Year in 1973.[19]
Agostini was frustrated with MV Agusta's lack of development and the growing threat of Japanese two-stroke technology, so he made the decision to join the Yamaha factory team for the1974 season leaving Read as the top MV Agusta rider withFranco Bonera as his teammate. Read successfully defended his title with four Grand Prix victories as Agostini suffered from injuries and mechanical problems with Yamaha. His victory would mark the last world championship for the legendary Italian marque as well as the last time that afour-stroke machine would win a title until the advent of theMotoGP class in2002.[1]
On the MV Agusta he gave Agostini's Yamaha a strong fight for the1975 500cc championship but finished in second place.[1] Realizing the writing was on the wall for four-stroke machinery, he left the Italian company to campaign a privateerSuzuki RG 500 in the1976 season after which he retired from Grand Prix racing.
Read entered TT events from 1977, winning theF1 (Formula 1) race on the works Honda CB750 SOHC and Senior race on a Suzuki.[20] Again on the Honda for 1978 F1, he recorded a DNF but was placed 4th in the Classic.[21] These races led to Honda producing a limited-production of 150 'Phil Read Replica' Formula 1 race-styled roadsters based on the CB750F2 with styling accessories bySeeley in Honda Britain colours of blue and red.
Read competed in the 1978 TT againstMike Hailwood, who made a famous comeback riding aDucati900SS provided by Manchester dealerSports Motorcycles. After another four-year hiatus, Read's last race was at theIsle of Man TT in 1982 at the age of 43.[22]
A lesser-known aspect of Read's career was his involvement inendurance racing. He rode aHonda in the 24-hourBol d'Or endurance race atLe Mans; and he won theThruxton 500 endurance race in1962 and 1963.
Read was well known within the racing paddock for his forthright and sometimes outspoken views, not least when it came to the dangers of theSnaefell Mountain Course.[23][24][25]
In particular this reflected Read's decision following the death ofGilberto Parlotti at the1972 Isle of Man TT. The death of Parlotti prompted Parlotti's close friend, and Read's MV Augusta teammate,Giacomo Agostini, to publicly state that he would never again compete at the TT.[26] This decision had far reaching consequences for the TT and would lead to a walk-out of the top Grand Prix stars many of whom resorted to severe criticism of the organisation and safety at the event, with Read in thevanguard of the critics.[25][27]
In certain aspects the comments were justified and resulted in theFédération Internationale de Motocyclisme taking the decision that theIsle of Man TT would be withdrawn from the World Championship calendar after the1976 races. However, the decision did cause a high degree of dissatisfaction with many pure road racing fans and resulted in some, not least those on the Isle of Man, forming a dislike of Read.[27]
As a consequence of the withdrawal of the Isle of Man from the World Grand Prix Championship, a significant increase in prize money was pumped into the1977 Isle of Man TT in addition to the creation of theTT Formula 1 World Championship. This in turn resulted in some candid cavilling concerning Read's decision to return to the TT, with him being subjected to numerous jeers. This continued into the 1978 TT, with Read cast very much in the role of aPantomime Villain against the celebrated return ofMike Hailwood.[28][29]
However, in his defence Read always maintained that his sentiment reflected riders being contractually required to race at the Isle of Man as part of a World Championship campaign, as opposed to having the freedom of conscience governing their decision.[26]
In time most fans came to accept the conclusions taken in 1972 and for many years both Read and Agostini, along with many other former competitors, were frequent guests at the TT Races where they would ride on exhibition and parade laps.[30][31]
In 1967, Read was domiciled in thetax haven ofGuernsey, where he had a business selling boats.[14]
During the 1970s period, Read started to distributePremier helmets[32] and gave his name to a range of motorcycle clothing, including marketing a 'Phil Read Replica' full-face helmet with the familiar design and colour scheme of black with three white flashes andchequer strip.
Read also opened a Honda dealership atHersham,Surrey in 1979.[33]
Read lived in Canterbury Kent, spending the summers visiting race tracks around Europe and demonstrating some of the motorcycles from his racing career.
Points system from 1950 to 1968:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1969 onwards:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None | TT Formula One World Champion 1977 | Succeeded by |
