Cork Ballington

Cork Ballington 1978 on Kawasaki

Hugh Neville "Cork" Ballington (born April 10, 1951 in Salisbury , Rhodesia ) is a former South African motorcycle racer . Between 1976 and 1982 he contested a total of 98 races in the motorcycle world championship and won four world titles.

Ballington used national races to make a name for itself and gain access to the British racing scene. There he rode an outdated Yamaha for a few years before he switched to the Kawasaki factory team and won the titles in the classes up to 250 cm³ and 350 cm³ in 1978 and 1979 .

In 1980 he rose to the 500 cc class with Kawasaki. But developing the new motorcycle presented the team with great difficulties. After three years in the premier class, in which Ballington could not build on the successes in the smaller classes, he ended his active career.

statistics

• GP victories: 31
• Podiums: 46
• GP starts:
  • 250 cc: 43
  • 350 cc: 26
  • 500 cc: 28
• Induction into the MotoGP Hall of Fame

World Cup placements

year class World Cup place team Victories 1976 250 cc 13. Yamaha - 350 cc 12. 1 1977 250 cc 6th 1 350 cc 5. 2 1978 250 cc 1. Kawasaki 4th 350 cc 1. 6th

year class World Cup place team Victories 1979 250 cc 1. Kawasaki 7th 350 cc 1. 5 1980 250 cc 2. 5 500 cc 12. - 1981 500 cc 8th. - 1982 500 cc 9 -

Web links

• Photo gallery
• Cork Ballington on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship.