Barry Sheene

Barry Sheene

Nation:	United Kingdom
Motorcycle world championship
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 102 23 19th 20th
World title:	2
World Cup points:	756
Podiums:	52
According to class (es): 50 cm³ class First start: Czechoslovakian Grand Prix 1971 Last start: 1971 Swedish Grand Prix Constructors 1971  Kreidler World Cup balance World Cup sixth ( 1971 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 2 1 - - World Cup points: 23 Podiums: 1 125 cc class First start: 1970 Spanish Grand Prix Last start: 1971 Spanish Grand Prix Constructors 1970-1971  Suzuki World Cup balance Vice World Champion ( 1971 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 10 3 - 2 World Cup points: 91 Podiums: 10 250 cc class First start: Grand Prix of the GDR 1971 Last start: 1972 Spanish Grand Prix Constructors 1971  Derbi  • 1972  Yamaha World Cup balance World Cup thirteenth ( 1972 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 3 - - - World Cup points: 23 Podiums: 1 500 cc class First start: 1974 French Grand Prix Last start: 1984 San Marino Grand Prix Constructors 1974-1979, 1983-1984  Suzuki  • 1980-1982  Yamaha World Cup balance World Champion ( 1976 - 1977 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 87 19th 19th 18th World Cup points: 619 Podiums: 40

Barry Sheene (born September 11, 1950 in London , England , † March 10, 2003 in Australia ) was a British motorcycle racer .

Life

In the 1970s and 1980s, Barry Sheene drove successfully in various Grand Prix World Championships. He started his World Cup career in 1970 with the 125s with a second place in Barcelona. In 1973 he won the FIM Prize in Formula 750 in a Suzuki TR 750 .

Barry Sheene on a Yamaha TZ 500 (OW 54)

In 1976 and 1977 Sheene was world champion in the 500cc class on a Suzuki RG 500 . After further successful years with the 500s, he retired from Grand Prix racing in 1984.

In his private life he was known as a party animal and chain smoker. After his marriage to Stefanie McLean, he calmed down and moved to Australia, mainly because of the climate. He suffered from arthritis . After his racing days he became a successful businessman.

Sheene died in 2003 in his adopted home of Australia to cancer . He left two children.

Chris Vermeulen , whose friend and sponsor was Sheene, competed in 2008 and 2009 in memory of him with his starting number, the number 7.

Driving style

Sheene is considered to be the co-founder of a new driving technique. After his compatriot Paul Smart began to lean his body into a curve in the early 1970s for fear of falling, he refined this posture to become a hanging off . Sheene can therefore be regarded as the inventor of this driving style, which has dominated racing to this day.

title

• 1971 - 125 cc vice world champion in a Suzuki
• 1973 - Formula 750 champion in a Suzuki
• 1974 - Mallory Park Race of the Year winner on Suzuki
• 1975 - Mallory Park Race of the Year winner on Suzuki
• 1976 - 500 cc world champion on Suzuki
• 1977 - 500 cc world champion on Suzuki
• 1978 - 500 cc vice world champion in a Suzuki
• 1978 - Winner of Mallory Park Race of the Year on Suzuki
• 1979 - 500 cc World Championship third on Suzuki
• 23 Grand Prix victories
• Induction into the MotoGP Hall of Fame

literature

• Andrew Marriott: Barry Sheene and his world: from errand boy to world champion. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87943-794-7 .

Web links

Commons : Barry Sheene  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Barry Sheene on the Official Motorcycle World Championship website.
• Barry Sheene on the Isle of Man TT official website.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IKnee grinding - who invented it? PS - The motorcycle magazine, issue 04/2010. Retrieved September 4, 2015 .