Jack Ahearn

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Jack Ahearn (born October 8, 1924 in Sydney , † April 10, 2017 in Lismore ) was an Australian motorcycle racer .

Career

Ahearn first came to Europe to race in 1953 at the age of 29 . As a double starter (350 and 500 cm³) he made around 30 starts per season during this time. In 1954 he won on Norton - Manx after an exciting wheel-to-wheel fight with Maurie Quincey , also Australian, at the Feldberg race in the Taunus . Ahearn made his first notable appearance in the motorcycle world championship at a time when other riders were already ending their careers - at the age of 30 in the 500 cc race for the 1955 German Grand Prix on the Nürburgring - Nordschleife . In this race he finished sixth on Norton.

It was not until 1963 that Jack Ahearn - now almost 40 years old - took part in World Championship races more regularly. His only Grand Prix victory came in 1964 in the half-liter run for the Finnish Grand Prix in Imatra , when he relegated Matchless drivers Mike Duff ( Canada ) and Gyula Marsovszky ( Switzerland ) to Norton . The 1964 season was also the most successful in Ahearn's career. With second place at the German Grand Prix behind the British MV-Agusta - works driver Mike Hailwood and third places at the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza and the Ulster Grand Prix in Ireland , he was runner-up behind Hailwood in the 500 cm³ class. This made Jack Ahearn the most successful Australian in the 500cc World Championship for a long time. It was not until 1987 that he was outbid by Wayne Gardner , who became world champion .

successes

literature

  • Don Cox 'Circus Life: Australian Motorcycle Racers In Europe In The 1950s

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ahearn, Jack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 2017
Place of death Lismore (New South Wales)