Dave Races

"Dave Hailwood (27) has just competed in his first motorcycle race at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal. He competed in the Classic Motorcycles class of the National Roadracing Portuguese Championship, and finished a very respectable 11th in his class, in a field of 33, oddly enough, Mike also finished 11th in his first race.!!

He had never ridden the bike before, so there was everything to learn, bike, circuit, technique etc.

Dave was very nervous of dropping someone else's bike, but thankfully didn't, and he really enjoyed himself. He was, and still is, up there, flying high, thrilled to have done it, and done it well.

The bike he rode was a Mike Hailwood '78 Replica Ducati, belonging to a really nice guy from Portugal, Patrick Degryse.

Patrick is a real 'Mike' fan, was extremely helpful and arranged everything for Dave, for which we are very grateful.

Mark from Dunlop Tyres very kindly supplied some great new tyres for which we are also extremely grateful.

Dave said that he received such a wonderfully warm welcome from everyone, he was totally overcome and had to shed a few tears after the race, when he dedicated the ride to his father.

So now he's in demand, and has been invited to Italy in July, for the MV Revival Meeting. I think that you will be hearing alot more about Dave in the future, and will keep you posted."