Phil Read

English motorcycle racer (1939–2022)

In the 1979 Birthday Honours, Read was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to motor cycle racing". In 2013, the F. I. M. inducted Read into the MotoGP Hall of Fame.

Born in the large Bedfordshire town of Luton on 1 January 1939, Read was a keen road rider and worked as an apprentice fitter at Brown and Green, a Luton manufacturer of industrial machinery. His first road machine was a Velocette KSS which he started on at the UK legal minimum riding age of sixteen in 1955, followed by a BSA Gold Star DBD32. He started amateur short circuit racing in 1958 on a Duke BSA Gold Star. In 1960 he won the Junior Manx Grand Prix on a Manx Norton at record speed He placed second in the 350cc and 500cc races at the 1961 North West 200 in Northern Ireland on Manx Nortons. He was a two time winner of the Thruxton 500 endurance race in 1962 and 1963 riding Syd Lawton's Norton Dominator 650SS machines. In 1963, the up and coming Read was temporarily drafted in to fill Derek Minter's absence in the Scuderia Duke Gilera Grand Prix team, as Minter had been seriously injured in May at Brands Hatch after a last lap accident when dicing for the lead with Dunstall rider Dave Downer, after which Downer died. The 1963 Isle of Man Senior TT was won by Mike Hailwood on an MV, while the Duke team came 2nd (John Hartle) and 3rd (Read). In the following Dutch TT at Assen, the finishing order was: 1st (Hartle), 2nd (Read), with Mike Hailwood's MV retiring in the 500cc class. Read came second to Hailwood in the Belgium GP 500cc race. Minter recovered and returned in time to reclaim his team place for the next event, the Ulster GP at Dundrod in August. The Scuderia Duke Gilera Grand Prix team disbanded at the end of 1963. He would repeat as champion the following year. The 1968 season proved to be controversial for Read. The Yamaha factory had wanted Read to concentrate on winning the 125cc title and teammate Bill Ivy to take the 250cc crown. After winning the 125cc championship, Read decided to disobey team orders and fight Ivy for the 250cc title. After sitting out most of the 1969 and 1970 grand prix seasons when the major Japanese factories all withdrew from Grands Prix racing, he concentrated on the major British and European international meetings. Read returned full time to the Grands Prix circuit in 1971 on a very special privateer production Yamaha developed under the direction of the Dutchman, Ferry Brouwer with twin disc brakes, improved horsepower and aerodynamics together with help from Eric Cheney (frame), Helmut Fath (dry clutch) and Rod Quaife (six speed transmission) but no factory support. On this bike he was able win the first three Grands Prix of the season and go on to claim his fifth world championship. Also in 1973, he won the prestigious Mallory Park Race of the Year. He successfully defended his 500cc crown in 1974 in what would be the last world championship for the legendary Italian marque. Again on the Honda for 1978 F1, he recorded a DNF but was placed 4th in the Classic. These races led to Honda producing a limited production of 150 'Phil Read Replica' Formula 1 race styled roadsters based on the CB750F2 with styling accessories by Seeley in Honda Britain colours of blue and red. He competed in the 1978 TT against Mike Hailwood, who made a famous comeback riding a Ducati 900SS provided by Manchester dealer Sports Motorcycles. After another four year hiatus, Read's last race was at the Isle of Man TT in 1982 at the age of 43. A lesser known aspect of Read's career was his involvement in endurance racing. He rode a Honda in the 24 hour Bol d'Or endurance race at Le Mans; and he won the Thruxton 500 endurance race in 1962 and 1963.

Read was well known within the racing paddock for his forthright and sometimes outspoken views, not least when it came to the dangers of the Snaefell Mountain Course. In particular this reflected Read's decision following the death of Gilberto Parlotti at the 1972 Isle of Man TT. The death of Parlotti prompted Parlotti's close friend, and Read's MV Augusta teammate, Giacomo Agostini, to publicly state that he would never again compete at the TT. This decision had far reaching consequences for the TT and would lead to a walk out of the top Grand Prix stars many of whom resorted to severe criticism of the organisation and safety at the event, with Read in the vanguard of the critics. In certain aspects the comments were justified and resulted in the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme taking the decision that the Isle of Man TT would be withdrawn from the World Championship calendar after the 1976 races. However the decision did cause a high degree of dissatisfaction with many pure road racing fans and resulted in some, not least those on the Isle of Man, forming a dislike of Read. However in his defence Read always maintained that his sentiment reflected riders being contractually required to race at the Isle of Man as part of a World Championship campaign, as opposed to having the freedom of conscience governing their decision.

In 1967, Read was domiciled in the tax haven of Guernsey, where he had a business selling boats. and gave his name to a range of motorcycle clothing, including marketing a 'Phil Read Replica' full face helmet with the familiar design and colour scheme of black with three white flashes and chequer strip. Read also opened a Honda dealership at Hersham, Surrey in 1979. Read lived in Canterbury Kent, spending the summers visiting race tracks around Europe and demonstrating some of the motorcycles from his racing career.