In the town of Luton, England in 1939 Phillip William Read MBE was born. And what followed was a life of speed, success, and at times controversy. Sadly on the 6th October at the age of 83, Phil Read passed away, and the motorcycle racing community lost one of its greatest ever champions.
We often understand the numbers behind grand prix careers from eras we never got to see, we can rattle off podium, win and title statistics and understand that someone was successful, but we don’t get access to the character of the man like you do when live through it, and watch that riders career first hand.
But before we dive into that character lets go over those statistics and what made Phil Read one of the best to ever do it. 121 Grand prix podiums, 52 gp wins, 8 tt wins, and 7 world titles including 2 in the 500cc class!! Incredible numbers. And along with that Read achieved many iconic world championship firsts, being the first rider to win a world championship in the 125, 250, and 500cc class. The first rider to win a world title on a Yamaha. And was the first to win a world title as a privateer. As well as being responsible for an iconic last, being the last rider to win a world title for MV Augusta.
His achievements particularly special when you look at his competition, this era will always be looked back on as one of the most iconic in the sports history with names like Sheene, Roberts, and Hailwood to name just a few.
Phil Read was one of those natural talents, after buying is first road bike at the age of 16, Read started club racing at 19 and was the Manx GP winner at 21, quite the rise. But as I mentioned earlier Reads career didn’t go by without its share of controversy. In 1968 he had made a gentleman’s agreement with Yamaha that he would win the 125 title and not fight teammate Bill Ivy for the 250 title. So after securing the 125 title earlier in the day Read decided to fight Ivy on track in the 250 race, he won with Ivy 2nd to draw level on points and win the world championship on a count back. Yamaha never offered Read a factory ride ever again.
Also controversial at the time was his opinion that the isle of Man TT should be removed from the world championship calendar due to it being unsafe for the riders, he wasn’t the only one but he certainly was a leader in the campaign to have it removed 1976. He then went back to race the TT in 1977 winning the 1977 Formula 1 World Championship race leading to many considering his views hypocritical, but read always maintained that riders should have the option to race in the isle of man if they choose to but no one should be contractually obliged to race such a dangerous circuit as part of the world championship calendar.
So often outspoken and always fast, Phil Read truly belongs in the top tier of grand prix motorcycle riders. His character and his success make him one of the most significant riders of all time. My condolences to those who knew him best, I wish I’d known more about his life and career before now but I thoroughly enjoyed reading back about his life while researching this video. He was a fascinating man and it was 83 years very well spent.