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Wynne Talk |
Steve Wynne Tells the Inside Story (page 2) "A couple of months after the '77 TT, we went to Silverstone for Roger Nicholls to ride in the TT F1 support race at the British GP. In the paddock there I was introduced to Mike Hailwood, who was visiting Britain from New Zealand, where he'd been living since retiring from Formula 1 car racing after his 1974 smash at the Nurburgring. He sees the Ducati, slings his leg over it, and says "This is the kind of old fashioned bike I understand - wouldn't mind doing another TT on this!" Half-jokingly, I say "Why don't you?!" - and with just a few words and a hand shake, the deal is done, for a paltry, completely nominal rider's fee of £1000 - I used to think it was even less, but I just discovered our single-sheet contract, complete with Mike's witticisms scrawled on it, in a drawer! But essentially Mike just wanted to have an enjoyable ride back in the Island he loved racing in - his plan was originally to ride under an assumed name, thinking nobody would realise it was him: some hope...!" "There were ten months to go before the TT, but I immediately contacted Ducati: this time there had to be no cock-up with last minute arrivals - it must be two brand-new bikes, not a single worn-out endurance racer with no spares. It was agreed however that I must pay for the bikes, one up front and the other at the end of the year, and they arrived in plenty of time, painted in NCR colours of red and silver, before the end of 1977. In fact, there were three - one each for Hailwood and Roger Nicholls, who after his efforts in the previous two races I must admit was our best hope for victory, since you must remember Mike hadn't raced a bike at top level for seven years, and a third for Mike's Australian mate Jim Scaysbrook, who was mainly responsible for him taking up bike racing again. This bike was bought and paid for by the Aussies, and went Down Under after the race, where it still is (owned by Bill McDonald in Brisbane, still in its original red and silver colours - AC). We however painted the two Sports bikes red and green, a colour scheme I designed from a can of Castrol oil, who were Mike's main sponsor - it had nothing to do with the Italian 'tricolore', which was just a happy coincidence, even if the people at Ducati preferred to think otherwise! I do know that when they launched the Mike Hailwood Replica 900SS streetbike the following year, neither Mike nor I were paid any royalties on it, even though this was the model whose commercial success was such (over 7000 were built and sold over a seven-year period - AC) that it bailed the state-owned factory out of near-certain bankruptcy - in Castrol colours!" * * * * * |
