The Iron Duke

“WITH THE SIZE AND HANDLING OF A 250CC GP BIKE, A WEIGHT ADVANTAGE AND COMPETITIVE POWER, IT WAS REALLY ONLY THE CHANGE OF FORMULA TO MOTOGP 990CC FOUR-STROKES THAT STOPPED THE KR3 FROM MAKING A MUCH BIGGER IMPACT IN THE 500CC CLASS. IN THE END, TIME RAN OUT FOR THIS BRAVE ATTEMPT TO UPSET THE V4 TWO-STROKE ORTHODOXY.”

Before there was Rossi, before there was Sheene, before there was Hailwood, there was a man who became the first mainstream superstar of motorcycle racing; the first to transcend the sport and become a pin-up and a household name. That name was Geoff Duke; a six-time world champion and six-time TT winner, in an era when winning a TT meant almost as much as winning a world title.

What made Duke’s fame all the more impressive was the era he raced in. There was no television coverage of motorcycle racing, no social media to celebrate his wins, and no sponsors to trumpet his successes. Duke became famous through newspapers, specialist motorcycle publications, and black-and-white newsreels. And he became famous in the only way anyone could back in those days – for excelling in his chosen field: for his imperious skills on a motorcycle, and for his role as a gentlemanly ambassador of the sport. He was voted the BBC’s Sportsman of the Year (the forerunner of Sports Personality of theYear) in 1951 and was awarded an OBE two years later. Sportsmen of the 1950s couldn’t really get any more famous.