Geoff Duke

Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015), born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. After retirement from competition, he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man.

Sporting career After reaching the status of Team Sergeant in the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, The White Helmets, Duke was a prominent figure in racing in the 1950s, winning six world championships and six Isle of Man TT races. First entering the Isle of Man Manx Grand Prix in 1948, he retired after four laps of the Junior race. He came to prominence after the 1949 events, finishing second in the Junior race, after remounting due to a spill, and winning the Senior race with a record lap and race-average speeds.Motor Cycle, 5 November 1964, p.797. Help Club accessed 31 January 2015 He also won the 1949 Senior Clubmans TT. He signed to the Norton works team for the 1950 TT, finishing second in the Junior TT and breaking both lap and race records in the Senior TT.

After winning three World Championships for Norton, Duke moved abroad to Italian motorcycle manufacturer, Gilera in 1953. With Gilera, he had a string of three consecutive 500 cc world championships. His support for a riders' strike demanding more start money led the FIM to suspend him for six months, dashing any hopes for a fourth consecutive title. For 1953 he joined the sports car racing team of Aston Martin (Feltham, Middlesex) to race the DB3. Teamed with Peter Collins, the pair led the 12 Hours of Sebring until Duke's accident and resulting DNF. In 1955 he was declared the first rider to lap the Isle of Man TT course at 100 mph, though this was later corrected to 99.97. As a consequence the official first 100 mph lap is credited to Bob McIntyre, also on a Gilera, in 1957. Duke was a non-starter because of injury. His final race was the 1959 Nations Grand Prix.

Duke briefly dabbled in Formula One, entering the 1961 German Grand Prix in a private Cooper-Climax. Although forced to withdraw from that event as his car was not yet ready, he did race in the non-championship Kanonloppet at Karlskoga two weeks later.

In 1963, Duke formed a racing team – Scuderia Duke, with riders Derek Minter and John Hartle – to race the 1957 Gileras against Mike Hailwood riding the MV Agusta.

During 1964, Duke was appointed Competition Manager for Royal Enfield motorcycles, helping to develop their new GP250 clubman's-category volume-production road racer.Motor Cycle, 3 September 1964. p.486 Lightweights stir it up during Manx Grand Prix practising. "New from stem to stern, the model is in the care of Geoff Duke who is helping Royal Enfields with the racing design". [image caption]: "Manxman Dennis Craine chats with Royal Enfield's Jack Booker and Geoff Duke.". Accessed 2015-07-02Motor Cycle, 19 November 1964. 'Earls Court Show Guide'. p.847 "Geoff Duke demonstrates the riding position of the new Royal Enfield racer..."Accessed 2013-08-18Motor Cycle, 9 September 1965. p.371 SLIM and LOW by David Dixon. Track test at Oulton Park of RE GP with Racing Manager Geoff Duke. Accessed 2013-08-18Royal Enfield 250GP at Bonhams Retrieved 2013-08-18

For the 1965 International Six Days Trial held on the Isle of Man, Duke was instrumental in helping to devise the 1,000-mile course and sections held on an island measuring approximately 30 miles long by 10 miles wide, particularly using tracks which would be unavailable in mainland UK due to restrictive legislation, a problem which did not arise on self-governing Isle of Man. Additionally, the island had hotels easily able to cater for the visiting teams, followers and spectators with a traditional goodwill and enthusiasm towards motorcycle sport. Duke acted as Clerk of the Course to the ACU, the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain including the Isle of Man, which interacted with the FIM international organisation.Motor Cycle 28 January 1965 pp.104-107 Manx Recce. Peter Fraser weighs up the venue for this year's ISDT. Accessed 2015-06-12

In 1967, Duke acted as entrant for the class-winning Triumph Bonneville ridden by John Hartle in the 750 cc capacity section of the newly introduced for 1967 Production class, which required racing machines to be based on roadsters, complying with controlled specifications using selected adaptations only, available from the manufacturers as part-numbered inventory.Motor Cycle 15 June 1967 pp.808-811 Diamond TT edition, race report. Production machine race. Super speeds on roadsters. [image caption] "John Hartle pilots the big Geoff Duke-entered Triumph through the right-hander at Quarter Bridge". Accessed 25 June 2015

Personal life Duke was the most famous rider to adopt one-piece leathers - he had enlisted his local tailor, Frank Barker, to make the first of his now famous one-piece race suits. Duke had previously used a one-piece lining under his two-piece leather racing suit, to facilitate easy movement, for which he received "ribald remarks from my team-mates!"Duke, Geoff. In Pursuit of Perfection (1988). Osprey, London. He was named Sportsman of the Year in 1951, and was awarded the RAC Segrave Trophy.

Duke is also known to popularize the "centered" riding style, whereby keeping himself on the saddle while cornering and keeping his upper body on the same lean angle as the bike. He also dismissed the notion of the "body leaning out" riding style would only be a fad. It had since been proven false after his passing, mostly because he was riding on less powerful machinery with thinner all-weather tyres.

Duke was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours "for services to British Motor-Cycle racing."UK list:

Duke was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. Brown, Geoff and Hogsbjerg, Christian. Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign. London: Redwords, 2020, p. 16

After retiring from racing, Duke became a businessman, initially in the motor trade and later in shipping services to the Isle of Man. In 1978, he was instrumental in setting up the Manx Line that introduced the first roll-on-roll-off ferry service to the island in competition with the 150-year-old Isle of Man Steam Packet Company The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2002.

Highly honoured by the Isle of Man, where he made so many of his world record breaking rides, a point on the mountain section of the TT Course was named after him in 2003. Three sharp bends at the 32nd Milestone between Brandywell and Windy Corner now carry the title 'Duke's'.Isle of Man TT Official site Retrieved 2015-06-12

Duke died, aged 92, at his home on the Isle of Man on 1 May 2015 after being ill for some time. Duke's funeral cortege assembled at TT Grandstand, Glencrutchery Road, Douglas, Isle of Man on 10 May, prior to a last lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course, followed by a private family funeral service.Isle of Man TT champion Geoff Duke's coffin to take final lap BBC Sport, 10 May 2015, Retrieved 2015-07-07TT legend Geoff Duke makes last lap of Mountain Course Yorkshire Evening Post, 10 May 2015, Retrieved 2015-07-07

World Championship results Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)

Year Class Motorcycle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points 1950 IOM BEL NED SUI ULS NAT 350 cc Norton 2 3 2 3 1 2nd 24 (28) 500 cc Norton 1 Ret Ret 4 1 1 2nd 27 1951 ESP SUI IOM BEL NED FRA ULS NAT 350 cc Norton Ret 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 1st 32 (40) 500 cc Norton Ret 1 1 1 5 1 4 1st 35 (37) 1952 SUI IOM NED BEL GER ULS NAT ESP 350 cc Norton 1 1 1 1 1st 32 500 cc Norton Ret Ret 2 2 7th 12 1953 IOM NED BEL GER FRA ULS SUI NAT ESP 500 cc Gilera Ret 1 Ret 1 2 1 1 1st 38 1954 FRA IOM ULS BEL NED GER SUI NAT ESP 500 cc Gilera Ret 2 C 1 1 1 1 1 1st 40 (46) 1955 ESP FRA IOM GER BEL NED ULS NAT 500 cc Gilera Ret 1 1 1 Ret 1 3 1st 36 1956 IOM NED BEL GER ULS NAT 500 cc Gilera Ret Ret Ret 1 7th 8 1957 GER IOM NED BEL ULS NAT 350 cc Gilera Ret Ret - 0 500 cc Gilera 3 2 4th 10 1958 IOM NED BEL GER SWE ULS NAT 350 cc Norton Ret Ret 5 Ret 1 4 3 3rd 17 500 cc BMW Ret Ret 4 Ret 3rd 13 Norton 1 5 7 1959 FRA IOM GER NED BEL SWE ULS NAT 250 cc NSU Ret 10th 5 Benelli 6 3 10 350 cc Norton 4 4 3 Ret 5th 10 500 cc Norton 9 3 3 3 4th 12

Geoff Duke

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