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Peter Williams (27 August 1939 – 20 December 2020) was a British former professional
motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...
. He competed in
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
motorcycle
road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on p ...
from
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...
to
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
. He also competed at many levels on home short-circuit races. He raced many times on the Isle of Man TT course from 1966 to 1973. His father was Jack Williams who ran the Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) race department. Williams trained in mechanical engineering and introduced via racing alloy wheels, an innovation which is commonplace on today's road bikes, and was also an early pioneer of solo-motorcycle
disc brakes A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to ho ...
.


Riding career

Williams was born in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, England. He started his racing on UK race circuits in 1964 and won the 250 cc class of the 1964 Thruxton 500 race on an
AJS A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, A ...
model 14 CSR partnered by Tony Wood. ''Motor Cycle'', 25 June 1964. p.122 ''Thruxton 500 race report and result'' and p.7a ''Associated Motor Cycles full page factory advertisement'' "''250cc class. 1st AJS 14 CSR. Riders: Peter Williams and Tony Wood. Entered by: Arter Bros Ltd.''" Accessed 2014-01-21 He first entered the Isle of Man
Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period reduction from 14 to 9 days ...
in 1964 on a Norton In 1965 he entered the Senior race on his Dunstall Norton Dominator 500 cc twin suffering con-rod breakage of the left cylinder when lying 3rd but scored a third place in Lightweight 250 cc category riding an ''Orpin Greeves Silverstone''. Williams entered selected Grand Prix races from 1966. He also regularly competed in TT races from 1966, scoring one 1st place and seven 2nd places. He won the 1966
North West 200 The International North West 200 is a Northern Irish motorsport event established in 1929 for road racing motorcycles held on a street circuit known as ''the Triangle'' between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coas ...
500 cc race in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
on a Matchless, and placed 2nd in the 250 cc class on a Greeves Silverstone His best Grand Prix season was in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...
when he finished in fourth place in the 500cc world championship on a Matchless G50 motorcycle. In early 1967, Williams marketed an engineering solution to enable a proprietary disc brake assembly produced and merchandised by Rickman Motorcycles to be fitted to
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 ...
and
AJS 7R The AJS 7R was a British 350 cc racing motorcycle built from 1948 to 1963 by Associated Motor Cycles. It was also commonly known as the ‘Boy Racer’, and won victories both for the factory and for privateers right from its introduction i ...
/ Matchless G50 racing machines. He had a long-standing relationship with sponsor Tom Arter, riding his Arter-AJS (350 cc) and Arter-Matchless (500 cc) machines which were later developed with special lightweight frames, disc brakes and six-spoke, solid-cast (non wire-spoked) Elektron wheels ''Motorcycle Mechanics'', February 1968, ''Full Chat'' by John Day: "''On Tom Arter's AJS and Matchless specials, he will set a new style, for one of his machines will be fitted with wheels built with only six spokes. They will be one-piece cast magnesium units similar to those fitted to racing cars. One might imagine that such bulky looking "cart" wheels would be heavy... Peter will fit them to his 500, which will also have disc brakes front and rear.''" Accessed 2013-07-20 dubbed "cart wheels" and ''artillery wheels'' by the UK press. In 1969 Williams and Arter started a new project intended to replace the 1950s Matchless G50-engined machine, with a prototype
Weslake Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, ...
twin-cylinder 500 cc engine which was abandoned due to failure of the engine project. As a Norton employee from 1969, ''Motorcycle Mechanics'', October 1969, p.22 ''Full Chat'' by John Day. "''The cast-magnesium wheels which Peter Williams is developing and which he tested for the first time at the Hutchinson 100, suggest that he will have any number of new and revolutionary ideas to impart in his new job as project engineer with Norton Villiers''" Accessed 2014-02-09 Williams entered larger-capacity races on Norton Commando twins. He teamed with Charley Sanby to win the 1969 Thruxton 500 endurance race and was placed second in the 750 cc class Production TT race in 1970. Williams won his only world championship race in
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
in the 350 cc
Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a motorcycle race that takes place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first races took place in 1922 and in 1935 and 1948 the Fédération Internati ...
, and also won the 1973 Isle of Man Formula 750 TT race on a John Player Norton with a
semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among ot ...
frame, in the role of team designer/rider. The machine was designed as an integrated package with a
Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel Island, Queensland *Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated communi ...
-type fairing incorporating handlebar blisters which helped to reduce the
drag coefficient In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...
to 0.39. His competitive riding career was ended by injuries suffered in a racing accident at Old Hall Corner,
Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...
on August Bank Holiday Monday, 26 August 1974, when the
fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clot ...
one-piece fuel tank/seat/tail unit became detached. Williams agreed to an
out of court settlement In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. A collective settlement is a settlement of multiple similar legal cases. The term also has other meanings in t ...
with Norton.


Career after racing

In the 1970s, Williams presented the intelligent face of bikers at public appearances giving open lectures at Universities. He provided insight into the engineering issues of racing the restricted-budget works Norton against multi-cylinder bikes from Japan, highlighting the pros and cons of using the 1940s-designed Norton engine. The crank shaft of the 360-degree parallel twin was supported on only two main bearings and as more power was developed from the engine a noticeable flex could be measured using a dial gauge placed on the end of the shaft. In the later 1970s, Williams operated a Kawasaki motorcycle dealership in
Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
. More recently Williams was involved in the development of a carbon-fibre monocoque designed
superbike A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfo ...
at
Lotus Cars Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics. Lotus was previously involved in Formula On ...
and an electric-powered racing bike, the EV-0 RR, planned for an outing at the TTXGP Zero Emissions race at the
Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing ...
in June 2009. He has a number of patents relating to frame and engine design. In 2013, Williams established a new business ''Peter Williams Motorcycles'' to recreate a limited number of his 1973 Norton Monocoque race bikes.


Motorcycle Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Peter Sportspeople from Nottingham British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders 1939 births 2020 deaths