BOB McINTYRE

Born in Glasgow in 1928, in his youth Bob developed a passion for bikes and entered his first race in 1948 on his trusty Ariel Red Hunter.

After progressing from off-road scrambling to road racing, he first tasted success on the Isle of Man in 1952, winning the Manx Junior (350cc) and coming second in the Manx Senior (500cc). His performances and reputation as a hard-riding competitor soon earned him a place on the AJS team, where he won his first Grand Prix at Pau in France in 1953.

Bob’s greatest moment came in 1957 at the 50th anniversary of the TT, when he climbed aboard his 500cc four-cylinder Gilera to compete in the eight-lap Golden Jubilee Senior race. In those days, doing a 100mph lap was compared to the four-minute mile in athletics – so the excitement generated when he recorded a speed of 101.03mph was immense. The Scot duly won the race after a gruelling three hours in the saddle.

Further success came later that year when he broke the one-hour speed record at Monza, and he went on to win further Grands Prix in Ulster (1961) and Belgium (1962).

His career was tragically cut short during a 500cc race at Oulton Park in August 1962, when he suffered serious head injuries after crashing into an advertising hoarding. He died in hospital nine days later aged 33.