Barry Sheene MBE

The multiple injuries sustained by Barry Sheene – Motorcycle World Champion in 1976 and 1977 – meant he was literally pinned back together to stay in the saddle, and these included a 175mph crash at Daytona in 1975 that left his body seemingly lifeless in front of live TV cameras. He was not, though, one for quitting. Barry inherited his love of bikes from his father, on whose Bultaco he began racing at 17. Three years later he was 125cc British champion and in 1971 he won his first GP, the Belgian. By now racing for Suzuki GB, he made his Superbike Championship debut in 1974, and won the first British GP at Silverstone at a record average of 107.74mph. In 1980 he started his own team with Yamaha, having always been a formidable negotiator, and finished fifth in the ’81 World Championship, while the year after he achieved five podium finishes until another horrendous spill in the British GP. Even after that, he returned to two wheels and was competitive for two more years before a move into car and truck racing. With a fun-loving, playboy character, Sheene later went to Australia to enjoy his celebrity status in the sun, sadly dying (of cancer) there in 2003.