Mike Hailwood came out of Retirement , on A Ducati that was a not much altered Road Bike, and beat the Worlds Best Rider's and all the Factory Teams , at the Isle of Man TT a race that most top riders are not interested in due to the Fatalities and injuries.
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Hailwood was a true racer but he'd tell you himself Dunlop is king. Under 17minutes!
I appreciate your hailing of Hailwood, I'm a huge fan of some long gone racers but your statement undermines itself. He couldn't have beat the worlds best if as you said most top riders won't participate at TT. Beating other riders is not TT. It's beat the clock. He beat the best that showed up by posting fastest laps at the time. He won 12 times. Amazing! Puts him with the best of the best and also in a very elite group of multiple discipline racers.
He went on to drive LeMans and F1. And back when F1 when they raced the old full course Nürburgring!!
Hailwood was an amazing true racer and the best at TT at the time, but in my opinion its really not a fair comparison today. Dunlop's sub-17 minute lap is a new paradigm for TT tonners. Hats off to the past but it's a whole new millennium and none of yesteryears participants are truely comparable to today's gen of TT and F1 drivers. It's like comparing
Evil Kenivel to Pastrana. Not a fair due to advancements in Tech capabilities and the exponential growth of human abilities. It's like saying John Bachar is the best free soloist ever. That was fair for a long time but is no longer. He could not achieve what the next gen has and the next gen could not achieve a new paradigm w/o others clearing the path but it doesn't make the past riders equal to today. Alex Honnold has recently caused a paradigm shift in human abilities with his free solo of the Huber brothers ElCap testpiece Freerider. He's in a new and incomparable class of greatness as Hailwood once was and Dunlop now is.
Have you watched all 17 minutes of Mikes lap with an isolating viewer for full emersion? It's fucking time travel!! I'm not trying to just be a contradictive ass here. I really appreciate you posting on bike racing and I hope you'll continue to do so, yours is the first steemit post I've seen on the subject so thanks! Hope you have a great July 4th and I hope Vettle beats Hamilton for the championship because Hamilton is a hypocritical little bitch and Ayrton Senna would tell him so. Schumacher was not and will never be the best 7 world titles or not. I watched the prick cheat time and time again and behave so unsportsmanlike it was disgusting. Like Hamilton if he couldn't win by position he'd try to win by rule manipulation and I know that's the corporate game aspect in this true sport but I don't have to like it nor swallow media declared greatness when it's by amount of wins only. Ferrari was a dominating during Shui's time. He proved that by trying to come back when they weren't and his performances were lackluster at best. (And his über rich family corporation sued GoPro over him smashing his head into a pine while skiing. That's so fucking Schumacher, a spoiled entitled bitch to the very end. He got what he deserved and a GoPro stamp on his skull as parting gift. Unlike Schumacher, Hailwood was a true champion in the ranks of Senna, Zenardi, Lauda, Gurney, Savage, Clarke, Hill, Fangio and so many others.
I'd never include Schumacher in that group and I could add a hundred other racers to the list long before I'd even consider adding his tainted career into it. I Experienced F1 live and in person numerous times in the 60's, 70's and 80's from Watkins Glen to Riverside Raceway and 10 years of LBGP from F5000 to F1 and C.A.R.T series along with every other form of road course racing, steeped in it from before birth. It's likely why I'm so opinionated on the subject.
I can't seem to find any actual lap times for Hailwoods TT wins. Curious as to what sort of differential there is. Cause you know, maybe I'm wrong?
Go Vettle! Go Dunlop! Go Dodgers!
Also, an unbalanced turbo would be a car bomb. Like a bowing ball in a dryer, run away!! :D Go Seahawks! Go @awgbibb!!
Thanks for your lengthy reply, The Worlds Best used to compete at the TT in Hailwoods era , but when the Really Hot American Riders came out , the amount of Accidents went up due to the Safety Factors installed at all the international Tracks That were impossible to do at the TT because basically it was just regular roads. A comment from a Dunlop Tyre tech stationed at The TT for the races :- When Ducati brought in their tyres for an examination before the race" Who the hell have you got riding for you?, have not seen tyre wear this far round the edges since Hailwood used to race".
Technology has made things easier and better . I still do a bit in the Music World and find that I could not sell one of the Best sounding Amps I have heard in my Life because the ( Moms) Boys they have playing in Bands now ,could not pick it up ! I am nearly 70 and carried it with one hand.
We all have our heroes , When Agostini came along and started beating Mike , he was brilliant but weighed about 40-50lbs less. There was a Rhodesian called Gary Hocking who was unbeatable for a while on Bikes , and got killed in a Formula 1 Car.
I'm not going to sleep well until I have a Thruxton 1200R in my garage.I remember the name Hocking. You sir have a few years on me. I'm really honored to talk with you. You're knowledge and experience is impressive. I was born in '63.
1947, and Why not a Thruxton? , Excellent Idea.
I took a 2016 T1200R out for a short 3 mile test ride in 'street mode' last September. It's falls well into the troublemaker class for sure.