Gary Stuart Hocking MBE (30 September 1937 – 21 December 1962) was a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion who competed in the late 1950s and early 1960s based in Rhodesia.Gary Hocking career statistics at MotoGP.com
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Early life

Hocking was born in

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

, near Newport, Monmouthshire, in south-east Wales, but grew up in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

(renamed Zimbabwe in 1980) where he attended Gifford High School. As a teenager, he began racing motorcycles on grass tracks. Before long, he had moved on to road racing circuits.

Motorcycle racing

He left Rhodesia to compete in Europe in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and made an immediate impact, finishing 3rd behind the works MV Agustas at the Nürburgring. He was sponsored by Manchester tuner/dealer Reg Dearden, who provided him with new 350 and 500 cc

Manx Norton The Norton Manx or Manx Norton is a British racing motorcycle that was made from 1947 to 1962 by Norton Motors Ltd. Norton had contested every Isle of Man TT race from the inaugural 1907 event through into the 1970s, a feat unrivalled by any ...

racing motorcycles. He spent the winter of 1958/1959 with the Costain family at their home in Castletown on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, learning the Mountain Course with George 'Sparrow' Costain, an established rider for the Dearden team, who had won the Senior Manx Grand Prix on a 500 Dearden-tuned Manx in 1954. In the

Junior TT The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Engine c ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

he finished 12th from 22nd on the grid.Gary Hocking Isle of Man TT results at iomtt.com
/ref> In

, he was offered a ride by the East German MZ factory and finished second in the 250cc championship. During practice for the 1959 Junior TT, his 350 Manx Norton, and the machines of teammates Terry Shepherd and

John Hartle John Hartle (22 December 1933 - 31 August 1968) was an English professional road racer who competed in national, international and Grand Prix motorcycle events. Motorcycling career Born in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, Hartle began racing ...

, were fitted with the top-secret works 350 cc Desmodromic engine, but they ran standard engines for the actual race. MV Agusta offered Hocking full factory support for the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

season and he repaid their confidence by finishing 2nd in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc classes. Following the retirement from motorcycle racing by defending champion,

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

, Hocking became MV Agusta's top rider and went on to claim dual

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the 350 cc and 500 cc classes, in a dominant manner against little factory mounted opposition.

Auto racing

Hocking was deeply affected by the death of his friend,

Tom Phillis Thomas Edward Phillis (9 April 1934 – 6 June 1962) was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He won the 1961 125cc motorcycle road racing World Championship and was the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT mountai ...

at the

1962 Isle of Man TT The 1962 Isle of Man TT was a FIM event held on 4 June 1962 at the Snaefell Mountain Course. It was part of the 1962 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. 1962 Isle of Man Lightweight TT 125cc final standings 3 Laps (113.00 Miles) Mountain C ...

. After winning the

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festi ...

, he announced his retirement from motorcycle racing and returned to Rhodesia. He felt motorcycle racing was too dangerous and decided a career in auto racing would be safer. Later that year, on 22 December, he was killed during practice for the 1962 Natal Grand Prix at the Westmead circuit. His car, a Rob Walker entered

Lotus 24 The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car''Automobile Year'', No. 10, 1962-1963, Page 198. designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Despite some early success in non-Championship Grands Prix, it was eclipsed by the technically s ...

, ran off the edge of the track at the end of the long right hand corner and somersaulted end over end twice. Hocking's head struck the roll hoop and he died some hours later in the Addington hospital in Durban. It is possible that the car suffered a front nearside suspension failure, and it is also possible that incorrectly reassembled steering – Hocking asked for a change on this item – might have been the cause; whatever was the reason, this caused the car to veer sharply to the left and somersault as he was going uphill and was approaching the crest of the rise. It is also likely that he was dehydrated and lost consciousness from that. He was 25 years old. Hocking is buried at ''Christchurch Cemetery'', Newport in Wales.Grave images and memorial
at Find a grave, retrieved 2014-09-08

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Formula One results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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Non-championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocking, Gary White Rhodesian people British emigrants to Rhodesia Rhodesian people of British descent Rhodesian motorcycle racers Welsh motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders People from Caerleon Sportspeople from Newport, Wales Racing drivers who died while racing 1937 births 1962 deaths Zimbabwean motorsport people Zimbabwean people of Welsh descent Sport deaths in South Africa Rhodesian Formula One drivers Rob Walker Racing Team Formula One drivers