Hailwood and the Isle Of Man, Part 2; 1979 and a Farewell to the TT

In part one of this story, we saw how Mike Hailwood came out of retirement to join battle once again with his old adversary, the Isle Of Man TT course, ten years after he had effectively walked away from two-wheeled racing. It was a fairytale return but there was still some unfinished business. We rejoin the story as the dust settles on the 1978 races.

Hailwood practising at Oulton Park on the 1979 Ducati.
It turned out to be nothing like as good as the '78 model

Mike had achieved more than anyone dared hope and repaid all the faith shown in him in 1978, but still the failures rankled (the big Yamaha had broken in the Classic just as the predicted battle with Mick Grant on the Kawasaki was heating up) and it didn’t take Mike long to determine to return in 1979.

Ducati were again keen to supply a bike but Yamaha, asked for a current 500cc machine, said no. Maybe they were still smarting from the failure of their machinery in 1978 but the request for a bike for 1979 was firmly turned down; ‘I regret I cannot let you have a 500cc machine,’ said a high ranking Yamaha official. ‘We feel we would not have a machine that would adequately meet Mr. Hailwood’s very fine reputation.’

He went on to say that if they couldn’t give him a bike that was as good a Hailwood was they would rather not give him a bike at all. There were not enough 1979 bikes available and to have him ride a 1978 bike would be unthinkable. As Kenny Roberts had just clinched the ’78 World Championship on one, it was hard to follow their reasoning, but they were not to be moved.

Where Yamaha feared to tread, however, Suzuki were only too happy to be given the chance and a 500cc GP machine was made available.

Mike, Left and Phil Read on the right

The Ducati was being further developed by the Italian factory – allegedly. But when Mike came to test the new bike at Misano in Italy, it was clear that development of the Ducati had not only been non-existent, but the bike had actually regressed – it was slower and just could not be made to handle; it was a real dog and not a machine that Mike relished riding to try and repeat last year’s triumph in the Formula One race.

Walls, Kerbs, telegraph poles
and a mountain. The TT course.

Mike thought that he might just be race rusty and tried not to blame the bike, but it was clear that the promised extra 15bhp was not there as well as all sorts of other problems with the rest of the bike.

‘I couldn’t believe it. The bikes were terrible,’ said Mike. ‘They were not a patch on the ’78 machines. And the handling! It was dreadful. I thought it must be me and I was glad when Eddie Roberts and George Fogarty, the other two lads in the team, had a go and had the same feeling.’

By contrast, after testing the Suzuki at Donington, he told the mechanics to put it away and leave it alone – it was perfect.

Martyn Ogborne, the brains behind Barry Sheene’s world championship engines, was told he would be working on the Suzuki for Mike at the TT. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he said. ‘Working for God! Me! That’s fantastic.’ After Mike’s Donington test of the Suzuki he could only marvel even more; ‘I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Nothing wrong with it! It was so unusual not to have some sort of criticism. But Mike is in a class of his own. He told us to shove the bike in the van and fetch it to the Isle of Man.’

If 1978 had been the comeback, then 1979 was the farewell. After the emotion of ’78, 1979 promised to exceed all expectations as Hailwood again stepped forward to do battle with the Island. This time, people knew he could win and he was taken all the more seriously; not that he had been underestimated the year before but, this time, the novelty and uncertainty had gone and he was seen as a very real threat.

Win No.14; Mike on the works 500cc Suzuki during the
1979 Senior TT

Hailwood himself was in a dark frame of mind, however. He had been to the North West 200 in Ireland, long a traditional warm-up for the TT and, there, Tom Herron had been killed. Mick Grant had crashed in another race and broken his pelvis and everywhere Mike looked, riders were being battered and bruised in accidents. ‘I must say, it started me thinking. With all of that and my own crash in Italy [when the Ducati spat him off and he broke several ribs] I was not in the happiest frame of mind.’

Hailwood was really up against it for the Formula One race and could only manage fourth fastest time in practice, with Scotsman Alex George breaking Mike’s lap record of the year before, claiming he hadn’t pushed himself or the Honda to their limits.
In the race it was all George. There was nothing Mike could do but, typically, gave it everything he had, to no avail.  On the last lap his battery box came adrift and, despite stopping out on the circuit to fix it, he still came in fifth. ‘Well, that’s one to forget,’ he said after the race. ‘I’m bloody glad it’s behind me. I tried as hard as I could, but it was pointless.’

Even in 1979, Hailwood was as neat as ever; here he is at
Quarter Bridge during the 1979 Classic

His best lap at 109.39 mph might not have set the world alight – George’s best was 112.45 – but it moved one insider to comment; ‘That must have been one of his finest laps of the TT. On that Ducati, handling as bad as it was, and being so way behind in power, it was an heroic performance. I just don’t know how he did it.’

Prospects for the Senior TT were much brighter, as he would be riding the Suzuki. However, on a late visit the night before the race to the mechanics, who were still working in the garage, he was dismayed to find the engine on the workbench in a thousand pieces. When they had started the engine that afternoon, great plumes of smoke came out of the exhaust – it was burning oil at a huge rate and wouldn’t have lasted a lap. There was nothing for it but to strip it down. It took them all night to find the problem – a coil spring had flicked off an oil seal - and when the bike went to the line the next day, it had not turned a wheel in anger since they had finished.

Hailwood, Alex George and Charlie Williams after George's
1979 Classic victory

At the end of the first lap Mike was third, behind Grant and George, both acknowledged masters of the Island and Grant, in particular, was looking forward to the contest, despite being in terrible physical condition with his broken pelvis.  But then Grant retired with a broken crank, and Mike simply blitzed the rest of the field, raising the class lap record to 114.02mph in the process. It may not have been as emotional a win as ‘78’s Formula One but, as a demonstration of skill, it left his rivals floundering and wondering why he ever retired in the first place. It was his 14th TT victory.

The Classic that rounded off the week was just that. It was a straight fight between Hailwood and George and both men dug deep and performed miracles, riding as hard as they knew how. Mike knew what the Suzuki was capable of, but George’s Honda had 500cc’s more and was fantastically fast.

They set off, Hailwood first and George 15 seconds later. Despite being so close on the road, they were not to see each other again until the end of the race, so evenly were they matched. George eased ahead by a few seconds, but could not make the break stick. They both rode faster and faster. On the penultimate lap, Mike put the hammer down and clawed back to lead by one second. Warned by his pit signals, Alex put everything into his last lap, clipping banks, running wide, wringing every last ounce of speed from the Honda. Mike had appalling luck with back markers who put him off line and delayed him. At the line he was but 3.4 seconds adrift.

Hailwood, after riding as hard as he ever had and still losing
the 1979 Classic, cannot hide the emotion as he makes his
way back to the paddock.

He was gutted; ‘…I tried so hard. I was sticking my neck out all over the place, far more than I wanted to. …I wouldn’t want to go through a last lap like that one all over again.’ By the time he got to Alex on the podium, the disappointment had been replaced with praise and admiration for what his rival had achieved. The curtain had come down on the career of a TT legend but still his first thought was to give the winner his due and say nothing about himself.

Never comfortable with praise himself, Mike would always try and find a way around any compliment. Vernon Cooper, the man responsible for setting up the deal for Mike to return to the TT, emphasized the value of having Mike there. Self-effacing as ever, Mike could only reply; ‘Well, it did me a favour, too. I got a second place; I’ve never had one of those on the Island before.’

The great Mike Hailwood, seen here as so
many remember him; a winner