Articles by Don Cox
Legends: Tarquinio Provini
You’d have thought it was no contest – a small Italian factory’s two-valve single against a 16-valve four. But with one round remaining in the 1963 world 250 championship, Tarquinio Provini and his Moto Morini …
Legends: Franco Uncini
What a difference a year makes! Franco Uncini should be remembered for his classy victory in the 1982 world 500 championship. Competing in the perhaps biggest field of works bikes in 500 GP racing to …
Legends: Gary Nixon
Back-to-back AMA Grand National Champion, Daytona 200 winner, US road-racing champion, battered in crashes and duded out of a ‘world’ title. Gary Nixon, from Anadarko, Oklahoma, has seen it all – the epitome of the …
Legends: Kel Carruthers
Kel Carruthers’ winning ride on a Benelli four to secure the 1969 world 250 championship on the treacherous streets of Opatija (in the old Yugoslavia) was the most dramatic title-clincher of Australia’s ten successful world …
Legends: Johnny Cecotto
For a rookie GP season, Alberto “Johnny” Cecotto’s impact in 1975 takes some beating. As a 19-year-old riding a second-tier Yamaha with a year-old factory engine, he won four 350 GPs and dethroned Giacomo Agostini …
Legends: Phil Read
Phil Read was the Prince of Speed and might also be called the Prince of Longevity – winning his first world championship event (the 350 TT) at the Isle of Man in 1961 and his …
Legends: Angel Nieto
He was the hero Spanish racing needed, this tough little guy from Zamora. But Angel Nieto would go on to win 90 Grands Prix in the 50, 80 and 125 classes between 1969 and 1985. …
Kork Ballington’s 500cc dilemma
Kork Ballington had a dilemma at the end of 1979 – stay with Kawasaki to develop a new 500 racer or sign with Suzuki?
Legends: Mike Hailwood
What made Mike Hailwood stand apart — precise lines on the fast public road circuits of his day? Tick. But he was just as comfortable on artificial circuits.
Bravery? Tick. He rode the fearsome Honda 500-4 …
Legends: Hugh Anderson
Hugh Anderson is close to the blueprint for a 1960s champion – resourceful, modest and brave.
Signed by Suzuki just as the company hit its straps as a builder of fast engines, he helped turn that …
Legends: Luigi Taveri
Luigi Taveri was the antithesis of today’s teenaged tear-away 125 GP racers – technically savvy, immaculately presented and cool headed.
An Italian-Swiss, born near Zurich in 1929, Taveri won the first of his three world 125 …
Legends: Max Deubel
What do Max Deubel and Mike Hailwood have in common? From 1961 to ’65 both men won four successive world GP championships — Deubel in sidecars with Emil Hoerner, Hailwood in 500 GP. They were …
Legends: Giacomo Agostini
Italy’s Giacomo Agostini holds the all-time records for the greatest number of world championships and grand prix victories.
Agostini between 1965 and 1976 won 122 grands prix in the 350 and 500 cm3 classes, and 15 …
Suzuki 50 years of racing 1960 – 2010
Perched on a car bonnet, in freezing weather and while operating a cine camera, might sound a strange way to begin an international race program. But that was what entertained Isle of Man residents for …
Roger Barker: The Man Who Charmed A Town
Australian motorcycle enthusiasts usually don’t need a second invitation to visit a pub. So if you’re planning a trip to Germany, consider the Hotel Luginsland. It’s in the pretty German village of the same name, …
