Rest in Peace Geoff Duke, born March 29 1923, died May 1 2015
Geoff Duke in 1952 Photo: Getty Images
Geoff Duke, who has died aged 92, spent a glorious 10 years at the highest level of motorcycle racing, winning six World Championships and six Isle of Man TT races during the 1950s; he was also the first rider to compete in a streamlined leather one-piece rather than jacket and trousers.
Duke was an early global superstar of motorcycle racing, known above all for the smoothness of his riding. The great Irish motorcyclist Stanley Woods compared his style to “water flowing from a tap”.
The son of a baker, Geoffrey Ernest Duke was born at St Helens in Lancashire on March 29 1923. Even as a youngster he was attracted to motorcycles and in his autobiography he fondly recalled, as a boy of 10, smelling “the now-rare aroma of Castrol R” coming through his window from two bikes parked outside.
His parents had been vehemently opposed to his owning a motorcycle ever since his older brother Eric had been knocked off his bike (a 248cc New Imperial) and severely injured by a Humber coming out of a turning. They eventually relented, however, and Geoff’s first bike was a 1923 belt-drive Raleigh which he bought with two friends for 10 shillings.
In 1939 he secured a job with the Post Office as a telephone engineer, for which he needed his own transport, so his parents let him a buy a second-hand DOT 175cc. He volunteered for military service in 1942 and was posted as an instructor of riders for the Royal Corps of Signals. After the war he worked first for BSA and then for Norton where he was a member of the trials team.
He made his racing debut in 1948 in the Junior Isle of Man Grand Prix on a 350cc Norton borrowed from the works. His engine failed with a split oil tank but his performance – he led the race at the end of lap three – impressed observers and he was marked as a star of the future.
His first road-racing victory was when he beat Les Graham in the 350cc final at Haddenham in 1949. He won the senior Manx Grand Prix later that year as well as the Senior Clubman’s TT.
Around this time Duke had the idea for a lightweight, close-fitting suit with minimal pockets and padding. He approached Frank Barker, a tailor in St Helens, to design the aerodynamic leather outfit, and Barker measured his client crouching over a chair as if riding a motorcycle. The finished suit weighed less than 5lb and was ready for the 1950 Senior TT.
Duke won that race against tough opposition – wearing his one-piece leathers for the first time – on a Norton 500cc, equipped with the new, softly sprung “featherbed” chassis designed by Rex McCandless. Duke was world champion three times for Norton, winning two 350cc titles in 1951 and 1952 and the 500cc title in 1951.
Geoff Duke riding a Gilera on Bray Hill at the Isle of Man TT races, June 11 1955 (GETTY)
He was also extremely skilled behind the wheel of a fast car and, on the suggestion of Lord Brabazon, switched to four wheels and sports car racing for a time. Brabazon arranged a test with Aston Martin and John Wyer, the firm’s racing manager, considered that Duke had “great potential”. Duke drove a DB3 to take third place in the Goodwood Easter Monday Race in 1952. The year after that he took a works Aston Martin to the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race in Florida, teamed with Peter Collins, but they crashed and failed to finish.
In the summer of 1953 he went fully back to motorcycles, moving to the faster four-cylinder racers of the Italian manufacturer Gilera . It was a golden period. He became the first rider to win the 500cc world championship three years in a row , from 1953 to 1955 .
He carried on racing motorcycles in the later 1950s, though without such spectacular success. Injuries and technical problems intervened. For his last two seasons he went back to racing Nortons as well as motorcycles made by BMW, NSU and Benelli.
Over the years he was active he won 33 world championship races.
Duke in his one-piece suit, originally designed in St Helens (Howard Byrne/Getty Images)
In 1961 Duke was offered a drive in a Formula 1 Cooper car at the Karlskoga track in Sweden. He suffered a locked gearbox, precipitating a crash that proved to be, as he later described it, “the most physically shattering experience of my life”. His injuries included damaged ribs, a collapsed lung, trauma to the heart muscle, a broken collar bone and a cracked pelvis. It was the end of his racing career, although in 1963 he ran a motorcycle racing team known as Scuderia Gilera.
In later years he lived on the Isle of Man, where he was a revered figure, and went into a variety of businesses including hotels and shipping; in 1978 he was involved in setting up the first roll-on roll-off ferry service from Douglas to the mainland.
He published an autobiography, In Pursuit of Perfection, in 1988.
Geoff Duke was voted Sportsman of the Year in 1951 and appointed OBE in 1953.
He married Patricia Reid in 1951; she died in 1975. He married, secondly, Dorothy Eagles; the marriage was dissolved. In 1978 he married, thirdly, Daisy; she survives him with two sons from his first marriage.
Geoff Duke, born March 29 1923, died May 1 2015
His first road-racing victory was when he beat Les Graham in the 350cc final at Haddenham in 1949. He won the senior Manx Grand Prix later that year as well as the Senior Clubman’s TT.
Around this time Duke had the idea for a lightweight, close-fitting suit with minimal pockets and padding. He approached Frank Barker, a tailor in St Helens, to design the aerodynamic leather outfit, and Barker measured his client crouching over a chair as if riding a motorcycle. The finished suit weighed less than 5lb and was ready for the 1950 Senior TT.
Duke won that race against tough opposition – wearing his one-piece leathers for the first time – on a Norton 500cc, equipped with the new, softly sprung “featherbed” chassis designed by Rex McCandless. Duke was world champion three times for Norton, winning two 350cc titles in 1951 and 1952 and the 500cc title in 1951.
Geoff Duke riding a Gilera on Bray Hill at the Isle of Man TT races, June 11 1955 (GETTY) He was also extremely skilled behind the wheel of a fast car and, on the suggestion of Lord Brabazon, switched to four wheels and sports car racing for a time. Brabazon arranged a test with Aston Martin and John Wyer, the firm’s racing manager, considered that Duke had “great potential”. Duke drove a DB3 to take third place in the Goodwood Easter Monday Race in 1952. The year after that he took a works Aston Martin to the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race in Florida, teamed with Peter Collins, but they crashed and failed to finish.
In the summer of 1953 he went fully back to motorcycles, moving to the faster four-cylinder racers of the Italian manufacturer Gilera . It was a golden period. He became the first rider to win the 500cc world championship three years in a row , from 1953 to 1955 .
He carried on racing motorcycles in the later 1950s, though without such spectacular success. Injuries and technical problems intervened. For his last two seasons he went back to racing Nortons as well as motorcycles made by BMW, NSU and Benelli.
Over the years he was active he won 33 world championship races.
Duke in his one-piece suit, originally designed in St Helens (Howard Byrne/Getty Images)
In 1961 Duke was offered a drive in a Formula 1 Cooper car at the Karlskoga track in Sweden. He suffered a locked gearbox, precipitating a crash that proved to be, as he later described it, “the most physically shattering experience of my life”. His injuries included damaged ribs, a collapsed lung, trauma to the heart muscle, a broken collar bone and a cracked pelvis. It was the end of his racing career, although in 1963 he ran a motorcycle racing team known as Scuderia Gilera.
In later years he lived on the Isle of Man, where he was a revered figure, and went into a variety of businesses including hotels and shipping; in 1978 he was involved in setting up the first roll-on roll-off ferry service from Douglas to the mainland.
He published an autobiography, In Pursuit of Perfection, in 1988.
Geoff Duke was voted Sportsman of the Year in 1951 and appointed OBE in 1953.
He married Patricia Reid in 1951; she died in 1975. He married, secondly, Dorothy Eagles; the marriage was dissolved. In 1978 he married, thirdly, Daisy; she survives him with two sons from his first marriage.
Geoff Duke, born March 29 1923, died May 1 2015
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