Phil Read Tribute 1939 – 2022

Phil Read MBE

B. 01-01-1939

D. 06-10-2022

‘The Prince of Speed’ didn’t just get his name, he had to earn it:

Read’s story could have been so different. He almost didn’t go into Motorcycle racing, he started as an apprentice fitter at a machinery company but whilst there he competed in amateur short-circuit racing, gaining valuable experience for when two years later he won his first motorcycle event in the Junior Manx Grand Prix, breaking the speed record in the process. It was clear from an early age this young man had talent.

In 1959 he won another title, this time in the Junior 350cc TT race but it didn’t end there. Keeping his winning streak up he went on to win the Thruxton 500 Endurance two years in a row. In the second season he also made the step-up into Grand-Prix road racing replacing Derek Minter, who was injured at the time.

Phil’s 500cc debut came at the Isle of Man TT, he finished 3rd and followed that with podiums in the next two races.

But to become a house-hold name in the 1960’s and 70’s he had to push himself even further.

Courtesy of: Svrider website.

In 1964 he signed a contract for Yamaha and won the 250cc championship, not just that he also maintained it the second year. People were certainly now noticing Phil Read, if they hadn’t already.

Throughout his career he battled many giants of the sport and in 1966 was no exception. Going toe-to-toe against fellow Brit Mike Hailwood (Honda), he lost his first championship since competing in the GP’s.

Read had a rebellious streak and was known for being outspoken. In 1968 this behaviour came to the forefront in the most spectacular way:

Yamaha wanted to win both the 125 and 250 championships. For this they chose Read and another fellow Brit – Bill Ivy to race for them. Read for 125’s and Ivy for 250’s. However, Phil had decided this wasn’t for him and defied team orders. Yamaha still won both championships, but it was Read who took the trophy for both. Yamaha did not take this well and responded by firing him and leaving him with no ride in 1969 and 1970!

Read and his Yamaha. Courtesy of: Flipboard website.

After two years away Phil came back with a bang! 1971 saw Read compete once again in the 250 championship on a private Yamaha. The odds were against him, but he succeeded in winning his 5th World Title – the first ever World Champion as a privateer.

MV Augusta took note of his performance and offered him a ride for the following season. Read took the chance with both hands and it proved to be a fantastic call. Together they won the 500cc Championship and also in the same year the 350cc Championship. Making him the first-ever rider to win the junior, intermediate and senior World Championships. To show how difficult this achievement truly is only Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have done so since.

MV Augusta was a great match. Courtesy of: Pinterest.

He then took back-to-back victories in the 500 class, claiming his 8th crown.

Read was a tough competitor, he needed this toughness to win all of his titles, but in 1975 he couldn’t quite compete against another ‘King of the Sport’ – Giacomo Agostini (Yamaha). He fought well but, finished 2nd behind him. That same year would be Read’s final GP victory. But not his last win ever – in 1977 he won the Formula TT.

Risk equals reward and during these times manufacturers were trying lots of new things as new technology became available. Riders would risk their lives (just like they do now) but the prize was always worth it. Read was rewarded with an MBE (for his services in motorcycle racing) in 1979 and skipping a few years, in 2002 the FIM – Motorcycling Racing Governing Body – named Phil a GP Legend, meaning he was entered into the Moto GP Hall of Fame.

He lived his best Rock ‘n’ Roll life and was known as the ‘bad boy’ in the paddock. Owning a Rolls Royce, flying his own private plane and having many glamorous ladies during this time.

He retired in 1982 to spend time on ‘business interests’ and to take part in classic racing.

His legendary status will always live on, and his large living lifestyle will always be remembered. He is a true icon of the sport.

 

 

(Featured image: Read winning for Yamaha. Courtesy of: Motor Company Website). 

A spectacle in Le Mans

Le Mans Qualifying:

Ever changing track conditions at Le Mans caused for some spectacular qualifying. For a few moments it looked as if Marc Marquez (Honda) was going to grab his first pole since 2019! But local boy – Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) had other ideas and snatched it away. Leading from Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and Jack Miller (Ducati) on the front row. Marquez started 6th place on the grid.

Courtesy of: Superbike-news

Uncharacteristically, the championship leader – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) qualified low down the grid in 16th place.

Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha), looked in good form and had a flying lap, which would have taken him to front row, but an almost high-side in the last corner, removed those hopes. He slotted into 9th place.

The unpredictable track conditions had meant that Sunday’s race had been declared a flag-to-flag race. The first one in four years – meaning some of the riders had never experienced this before.

This was going to be interesting:

Race:

Le Mans had it all – rain, sun, bike swaps, crashes, penalties! As the drama unfolded in-front of us, one thing was for sure – Miller gave yet another ‘Thriller’ race!

As the riders lined up on the grid, the dark grey clouds loomed overhead. Weather forecasts predicted the rain wouldn’t emerge during the race. Just in-case though it had been declared a flag-to-flag event, meaning the riders had their spare bikes ready with wet tyres on, should the rain interfere with the proceedings.

Miller got a lighting start and led the pack into lap one, from Vinales and Quartararo. But it was Pol Espargaro (Aprilia), that had a ‘moment’, rejoining in the middle of team-mates Rossi and Frankie Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha), Morbidelli had to take evasive action, leaving him holding his knee in the gravel. Already having hurt it during a freak pit-lane accident in qualifying. (He was able to later rejoin, but finished outside the points).

Miller takes the lead. Courtesy of: Motorsport.com

Vinales soon took first and started to slowly break-away. Were we seeing Maverick finally not letting the weather conditions mess with his head? M. Marquez was fighting for 4th place with Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda)

All to quickly though, bustling started to happen in the pit lane, as the pit crews started to get the second bikes ready for the inevitable change over. Marshals were waving the red and white flags track-side and the riders now had the option to come in and switch bikes. The rain had come earlier than expected!

Quartararo took full advantage to the change of weather conditions and swept through to first place. Vinales, sadly couldn’t help but react negatively to the wet weather and immediately went backwards.

Jack wasn’t prepared to just let Fabio have first place though and soon they were battling for first.

The rain continued to pour, getting heavier by the second. Miller went into the gravel but saved himself and with 23 laps to go he and all the riders decided to enter the pit lane to swap their bikes. M. Marquez made a swift exit from pit lane securing first place. The reigning champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) however, accidently fell upon entering the pit lane.

Pitlane pandemonium. Courtesy of: Moto GP website

Then turn four, saw his team-mate Alex crash. Both Suzuki’s were having a race they would want to forget.

Then seemingly disaster for the Ducati boys! Both Bagnaia and Miller got a double long-lap penalty for exceeding pit-lane speed limits. The speed limit is 60km/h but both were recorded as over it.

With Miller in third place, being led by Quartararo and Marquez, he didn’t want to give up any places, but he took his first long-lap the next lap (lap 9) and then his second on lap 10. Getting them out the way with quick.

Marc Marquez looked like his old self again and even pulled away from Fabio leading with 1.380 seconds and then by 1.973 seconds. He had said that these weather conditions could fall into his hands on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rins had managed to return to the race with his second bike.

All hearts leapt in unison though as on lap 8, Marquez took a high-side from first position, on the final corner! Launching himself from his bike and rolling through the gravel. He managed to also re-join the race (using the same bike, albeit missing some of its wings).

With Miller taking his second penalty, Quartararo set about extending his lead. Little did he know that he too had collected a penalty. Never having raced a flag-to-flag race he had gone into the pit-lane to swap over his Yamaha’s just to ride into Vinales’s pit box. This was seen as a safety risk which meant he too had to take a long-lap soon. He decided to take it lap 12.

Cutting quickly through the pack, aware that this was his best chance at getting any points this race, Marquez was now the fastest man on track. Ignoring his pain and the rain.

An issue with Lorenzo Savadori’s Aprilia saw him retire from the race. On the same lap Miguel Oliveira (KTM) slid off on the nefarious turn 3. It soon took Rins as well, now his second time seeing the gravel during the race.

Meanwhile Marquez was still slicing through his competitors and with 13 laps to go was in 15th place. His younger brother Alex Marquez (Honda), it is worth noting, was having a brilliant race, from 19th on the grid to 5th by lap 15. By lap 17 M. Marquez had clawed back to 12th place.

Nakagami had his position taken away from him by one of the local boys – Zarco, who was picking up speed – quick. He was now in 3rd place with fellow country-man Quartararo in his sights and the leader – Miller not far away either. Could Le Mans finally have a French winner?

With 11 laps until the end, Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia malfunctioned, leaving the team with DNF’s for both bikes.

Conditions changed again – the track had dried up and the rain ceased. All riders were on their second bike with wet tyres. They could return to the pits again and swap a second time for slick tyres but none of them wanted to be the first to juggle with fate.

Then absolute heartbreak – Marc Marquez crashed out again – turn 6, lap 18, from 11th place. This time he was unable to pick the bike up and return.

Courtesy of: Moto GP website

Miller had a 5.475 second lead over Quartararo, who had a 3.763 second gap to Zarco. But this was decreasing quick! Zarco had both medium wet tyres, where Miller and Quartararo had one soft and one medium tyre each. With the track getting drier each lap, the gap between the two Frenchmen rapidly shrunk. On lap 21 of 27 the gap was 0.696 seconds.

Johann passed Fabio with relative ease with 6 laps to go. Could he catch Miller?

Last lap – the track was completely dry – the riders were all still on wet tyres – there were two Frenchmen hunting down the Australian in first. But it was a Thriller performance from Miller who was in complete control, taking back-to-back victories! His first ever time doing this in the premier class and only his 3rd ever win in Moto GP. He is the first Australian to win back-to-back races since Stoner (Ducati) in 2012.

It was like a win for Fabio (who had never finished on the podium in wet conditions before) and Johann who rounded off the podium in France.

Top 10 race results:

First

Miller

Second

Zarco

Third

Quartararo

Fourth

Bagnaia

Fifth

Petrucci

Sixth

A. Marquez

Seventh

Nakagami

Eigth

P. Espargaro

Ninth

Lecuona

Tenth

Vinales

Championship Standings:

First

Quartararo

80 Points

Second

Bagnaia

79 points

Third

Zarco

68 points

Fourth

Miller

64 points

It was a rollercoaster ride for Miller who said “…they’re gonna red flag this for sure…” aren’t we all glad that they didn’t?

Miller and Quartararo in Parc Ferme – Le Mans. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Mugello (30th May) is the next round of the championship and is notably a Ducati track. Can the Dukes keep up this dominating pace? Or will Yamaha fight back and claim the top spot once more?

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