Ray Pickrell

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Ray Pickrell (born March 16, 1938 in Harrow Weald , Middlesex , † February 20, 2006 ) was a British motorcycle racer who achieved his greatest successes in road races .

Live and act

Triumph as Pickrell drove in the early 1970s

Through his father, Ray Pickrell came into contact with motorcycles very early on. His first machine was a 225 cc Villiers before he switched to a Norton Dominator . He gained his first mostly illegal racing experience in the scene around the Ace Cafe in London . In the early 1960s, BSA signed him and Pickrell competed in professional races such as Brands Hatch . He only made his breakthrough when he switched to Norton. In 1968 Pickrell won 18 races, including the Isle of Man TT . At the beginning of the 1970s he switched to Triumph and achieved more than just respectable successes on the Slippery Sam . Ray Pickrell, who had several serious accidents in his career , retired in 1972. In the Mallory Park Race of the Year he fell at around 160 km / h due to a gearbox failure. The following Tony Jefferies lost control of his machine through this fall. The motorcycle crashed into Pickrell and seriously injured him. For several weeks it was not certain that he would survive. As a result, he never took part in a race again and earned his living as a truck driver. Pickrell was married twice and had a son and daughter from his first marriage.

Victory statistics

(Abstract)

year class machine run
1968 Production 750 Norton Isle of Man TT
1971 Production 750 triumph Isle of Man TT
1971 - triumph Bol d'Or
1972 Production 750 triumph Isle of Man TT
1972 Formula 750 triumph Isle of Man TT

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pickrell, Ray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Harrow Weald , Middlesex
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 2006