Mighty Mike
Mike Hailwood pushes off on his MV Agusta 500-4 at the start of the Seniortt on the Isle of Man, June 8, 1962.
The race wasn’t going to be his finest on Mona’s Isle, as he finished 12th, after gearbox and clutch trouble. Instead, the win went to his team-mate Gary Hocking, the then-reigning 500cc Grand Prix world champion.
The Rhodesian was riding following the death of Australian Tom Phillis in the Juniortt race where he and Hailwood’s MVS were battling the slower Honda of Phillis. Phillis would die in a crash at Laurel Bank. Hocking was badly affected by this and would leave bike racing almost immediately, sadly dying within six months while at the wheel of a V8 Lotus Climax car he was testing.
Hailwood – Hocking’s natural successor at MV Agusta – would go on to win that year’s 500cc championship and become the first rider to win four back-to-back titles: 1962-65.