Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015), born in St. Helens,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, was a British multiple

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

Grand Prix

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera,

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, NSU and Benelli. After retirement from competition, he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man.

Sporting career

After reaching the status of Team Sergeant in the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, The White Helmets, Duke was a prominent figure in racing in the 1950s, winning six world championships and six Isle of Man TT races. First entering the Isle of Man Manx Grand Prix in 1948, he retired after four laps of the Junior race. He came to prominence after the 1949 events, finishing second in the Junior race, after remounting due to a spill, and winning the Senior race with a record lap and race-average speeds. ''Motor Cycle'', 5 November 1964, p.797. ''Help Club'' accessed 31 January 2015 He also won the 1949 Senior Clubmans TT. He signed to the Norton works team for the 1950 TT, finishing second in the Junior TT and breaking both lap and race records in the Senior TT. After winning three World Championships for Norton, he moved abroad to Italian motorcycle manufacturer, Gilera in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

. With Gilera, he had a string of three consecutive 500 cc world championships. His support for a riders' strike demanding more start money led the FIM to suspend him for six months, dashing any hopes for a fourth consecutive title. For 1953 he joined the

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

racing team of Aston Martin (Feltham, Middlesex) to race the DB3. Teamed with Peter Collins, the pair led the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

until Duke's accident and resulting DNF. In 1955 he was declared the first rider to lap the Isle of Man TT course at 100 mph, though this was later corrected to 99.97. As a consequence the official first 100 mph lap is credited to Bob McIntyre, also on a Gilera, in 1957. Duke was a non-starter because of injury. His final race was the 1959 Nations Grand Prix. Duke briefly dabbled in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

, entering the 1961 German Grand Prix in a private Cooper- Climax. Although forced to withdraw from that event as his car was not yet ready, he did race in the non-championship

Kanonloppet Kanonloppet ("the cannon race") is an annual auto racing, motor race, run at the Karlskoga Motorstadion in Gelleråsen in the outskirts of Karlskoga, Sweden. The first races were run in 1950 and 1952, and then from 1954 onwards it was an annual eve ...

Karlskoga Karlskoga () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, Sweden. It is located within Örebro County, 45 km (28 mi) west of Örebro, and 10 km (6 mi) north of Degerfors. With a 2020 population o ...

two weeks later. In

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

, he formed a racing team – ''Scuderia Duke'', with riders Derek Minter and John Hartle – to race the 1957 Gileras against Mike Hailwood riding the

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is an Italian high end motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded by Domenico Agusta, Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of ...

. During 1964, Duke was appointed Competition Manager for

Royal Enfield Royal Enfield is an Indian motorcycle manufacturer, headquartered and manufactured in Chennai, India. Royal Enfield (England), Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production.GP250 clubman's-category volume-production road racer. ''Motor Cycle'', 3 September 1964. p.486 Lightweights stir it up during Manx Grand Prix practising. "''New from stem to stern, the model is in the care of Geoff Duke who is helping Royal Enfields with the racing design''". mage caption "''Manxman Dennis Craine chats with Royal Enfield's Jack Booker and Geoff Duke.''". Accessed 2015-07-02 ''Motor Cycle'', 19 November 1964. ' Earls Court Show Guide'. p.847 "''Geoff Duke demonstrates the riding position of the new Royal Enfield racer...''"Accessed 2013-08-18 Motor Cycle, 9 September 1965. p.371 ''SLIM and LOW'' by David Dixon. ''Track test at Oulton Park of RE GP with Racing Manager Geoff Duke''. Accessed 2013-08-18 For the 1965 International Six Days Trial held on the Isle of Man, Duke was instrumental in helping to devise the 1,000-mile course and sections held on an island measuring approximately 30 miles long by 10 miles wide, particularly using tracks which would be unavailable in mainland UK due to restrictive legislation, a problem which did not arise on self-governing Isle of Man. Additionally, the island had hotels easily able to cater for the visiting teams, followers and spectators with a traditional goodwill and enthusiasm towards motorcycle sport. Duke acted as Clerk of the Course to the ACU, the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain including the Isle of Man, which interacted with the FIM international organisation. In 1967, Duke acted as entrant for the class-winning Triumph Bonneville ridden by John Hartle in the 750 cc capacity section of the newly introduced for 1967 ''Production class'', which required racing machines to be based on roadsters, complying with controlled specifications using selected adaptations only, available from the manufacturers as part-numbered inventory.

Personal life

Duke was the most famous rider to adopt one-piece leathers - he had enlisted his local tailor, Frank Barker, to make the first of his now famous one-piece race suits. Duke had previously used a one-piece lining under his two-piece leather racing suit, to facilitate easy movement, for which he received "ribald remarks from my team-mates!" He was named Sportsman of the Year in 1951, and was awarded the RAC Segrave Trophy. He is also known to popularize the "centered" riding style, whereby keeping himself on the saddle while cornering and keeping his upper body on the same lean angle as the bike. He also dismissed the notion of the "body leaning out" riding style would only be a fad. It had since been proven false after his passing, mostly because he was riding on less powerful machinery with thinner all-weather tyres. Duke was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours "for services to British Motor-Cycle racing." He was one of many signatories in a letter to ''The Times'' on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. Geoff Duke funeral cortege 1 cropped

After retiring from racing, Duke became a businessman, initially in the motor trade and later in shipping services to the Isle of Man. In 1978, he was instrumental in setting up the Manx Line that introduced the first roll-on-roll-off ferry service to the island in competition with the 150-year-old Isle of Man Steam Packet Company The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2002. Highly honoured by the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, where he made so many of his world record breaking rides, a point on the mountain section of the TT Course was named after him in 2003. Three sharp bends at the 32nd Milestone between Brandywell and Windy Corner now carry the title 'Duke's'. He died, aged 92, at his home on the Isle of Man on 1 May 2015 after being ill for some time. Duke's funeral cortege assembled at TT Grandstand, Glencrutchery Road, Douglas, Isle of Man on 10 May, prior to a last lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course, followed by a private family funeral service.TT legend Geoff Duke makes last lap of Mountain Course
Yorkshire Evening Post, 10 May 2015, Retrieved 2015-07-07

World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)

References

Footnotes

*All Grand Prix results are taken from Walker, pp. 248–252

Books