| Kork Ballington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Ballington in 1978 racing on theChimay Street Circuit in Belgium. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | South African | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1951-04-10)10 April 1951 (age 74) Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hugh Neville "Kork"Ballington (born 10 April 1951) is a South African former professionalmotorcycle racer.[1] He competed in theGrand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from1976 to1982, most prominently as a member of theKawasaki factory racing team with whom he won fourFIMroad racing world championships.[2] Ballington was inducted into theMotoGP Legends Hall of Fame in 2018.[3]
Born inSalisbury,Southern Rhodesia, Ballington's family emigrated to South Africa when he was young. He used his domestic productionroad racing experience as a springboard to gain entry into the British domestic racing competitions.[4]
In1976 he began competing in the world championships, taking his first podium position when he scored a second place result in the250cc German Grand Prix held at the daunting, 14.2 miles (22.9 km) longNürburgring racetrack, considered too dangerous for theFormula One championship.[1] He followed this performance by winning the1976 350cc Spanish Grand Prix held on the challengingMontjuïc circuit inBarcelona.[1]
Ballington continued to improve in1977 by winning three Grand Prix races including at the1977 British Grand Prix where, he scored a double victory by winning both the 250cc and 350cc classes.[3] For the1978 season, Ballington was offered a position with the Kawasakifactory racing team ridingKawasaki KR250 and KR350s alongsideMick Grant andBarry Ditchburn.[4]
After a slow start to the season, he won four 250cc Grand Prix races along with two second places and two third places to claim his first 250ccWorld Championship.[1][2] Ballington was even more dominant in the 350cc class where he won six times along with three second places finishes to claim the 350cc world championship.[1][2][3] The1979 season was equally as successful for Ballington, winning seven 250cc Grand Prix races and five 350cc Grand Prix races to claim his second consecutive double world championships.[1][2]
In1980, he finished second toAnton Mang in the 250cc world championship, and campaigned Kawasaki's newKR500 in the premier 500cc division. However, developing a new bike in the premier class proved to be difficult, and after three years Kawasaki was unable to recreate the same success they had experienced in the smaller classes although, they were more successful competing in the 1982ACU 500cc British National Championship where, Ballington won six consecutive races to win the title for Kawasaki.[5] After three seasons without making significant gains on their competition, Kawasaki made the decision to withdraw from world championship competition after the1982 season leaving Ballington without a job.[6]
In 1984 he entered theSuzuka 8 Hoursendurance race riding aKawasaki GPZ750 with teammateRob Phillis however, they retired after completing only 15 laps.[7] He then raced in theDaytona 200 for the first time, riding aSuzuki GSX-R750 for the British-based Skoal BanditSuzuki team in 1986.[8] He placed third in his qualifying race behind the Yamaha factory teammatesEddie Lawson andJimmy Filice but, retired from the main event after completing 37 laps.[8]
His Daytona performance earned him a position with the MacLean Racing Team riding aHonda RS500 in the 1986AMA Formula One Championship.[6] Ballington fought with Randy Renfrow in a season long battle before finishing the season in second place.[9] He returned in 1987 to compete on aHonda NSR250 in the AMA 250cc road racing national championship where he finished second toJohn Kocinski.[6] Ballington competed in the 1988 AMA 250cc road racing national championship before making the decision to retire.[6]
Ballington now lives with his family inBrisbane,Australia. In 2018, the FIM inducted him into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame.[3]
Source:[1]
| 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)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA - | NAT Ret | YUG - | IOM - | NED - | BEL - | SWE - | FIN - | CZE - | GER 2 | ESP 8 | 15 | 13th | 0 | ||
| 350cc | Yamaha | FRA - | NAT 6 | YUG - | IOM - | NED - | BEL - | SWE - | FIN - | CZE - | GER 12 | ESP 1 | 20 | 12th | 1 | |||
| 1977 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN 5 | GER 6 | NAT - | ESP 11 | FRA - | YUG - | NED - | BEL 6 | SWE - | FIN 3 | CZE 4 | GBR 1 | 49 | 6th | 1 | |
| 350cc | Yamaha | VEN - | AUT - | GER - | NAT - | ESP - | FRA - | NED 1 | SWE 2 | FIN 13 | CZE 7 | GBR 1 | 46 | 5th | 2 | |||
| 1978 | 250cc | Kawasaki | VEN 5 | ESP 4 | FRA 3 | NAT 1 | NED 2 | BEL 5 | SWE 2 | FIN 1 | GBR - | GER 1 | CZE 1 | YUG 3 | 124 | 1st | 4 | |
| 350cc | Kawasaki | VEN 4 | AUT 1 | FRA 2 | NAT 1 | NED 1 | SWE 2 | FIN 1 | GBR 1 | GER 2 | CZE 1 | YUG - | 134 | 1st | 6 | |||
| 1979 | 250cc | Kawasaki | VEN 2 | GER 1 | NAT 1 | ESP 1 | YUG 4 | NED 3 | BEL DNS | SWE 5 | FIN 1 | GBR 1 | CZE 1 | FRA 1 | 141 | 1st | 7 | |
| 350cc | Kawasaki | VEN 4 | AUT 1 | GER 4 | NAT - | ESP 1 | YUG 1 | NED - | FIN 9 | GBR 1 | CZE 1 | FRA 5 | 99 | 1st | 5 | |||
| 1980 | 250cc | Kawasaki | NAT - | ESP 1 | FRA 1 | YUG - | NED - | BEL - | FIN 1 | GBR 1 | CZE 2 | GER 1 | 87 | 2nd | 5 | |||
| 500cc | Kawasaki | NAT NC | ESP 13 | FRA 8 | NED - | BEL - | FIN 5 | GBR 7 | GER 6 | 13 | 12th | 0 | ||||||
| 1981 | 500cc | Kawasaki | AUT 6 | GER NC | NAT - | FRA 7 | YUG - | NED 3 | BEL - | RSM 5 | GBR NC | FIN 3 | SWE 4 | 43 | 8th | 0 | ||
| 1982 | 500cc | Kawasaki | ARG 8 | AUT NC | FRA - | ESP 9 | NAT 6 | NED 7 | BEL 8 | YUG 10 | GBR 7 | SWE 6 | RSM 7 | GER - | 31 | 9th | 0 |
Kork clinched the title at the penultimate round at Oulton Park early in October after a battle royal throughout the series with luckless Keith Huewen...
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