Ron Haslam

Ronald Haslam (born 22 June 1956) is an English former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who had been racing for over thirty years, winning two World titles, four British championships and having ridden in almost 110 GPs.

Haslam spends much of his time helping his son Leon Haslam in his racing career and previously trained riders and racers alike at his former Race School based at Donington racetrack, Leicestershire.

During his career, Haslam gained the nickname Rocket Ron, with his son named similarly as Pocket Rocket.

One of ten siblings from Langley Mill, near the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire boundary, Haslam started racing in 1972 on a 750cc Norton Commando.

At Cadwell Park he finished seventh and eighth in wet and slippery conditions.

He raced at handful of meetings in 1972 and 1973.

Following the death of his elder brother Phil in a racing accident at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, in July 1974, he pulled out of the sport for the rest of that season.

Haslam was runner-up in the 750 British championship in 1975, '76 and '77 and second in the British Formula One series in 1978.

In the 1976 season he had 16 wins.

Haslam made his Grand Prix debut at the 1977 500cc British Grand Prix at Silverstone on a 500 Suzuki, crashing out of the race.

In 1978 he rode 125, 250, 500, 1000cc, Superbike and F1 machinery and after adding a 350 to his stable the following year he became the first rider to win five different races in a day at Oulton Park and repeated the feat at Carnaby later the same season.

Haslam debuted at the 1978 TT races with a best place of fourth in the Formula Two race, later making his mark in 1981, when he was named winner of the Formula 1 race, only for the organisers to give the win the following day to Graeme Crosby.

Haslam was back the following year to claim an undisputed victory.

Haslam was a member of the British team in the then-annual Transatlantic Match Races between Britain and the United States.

Haslam has raced in many Endurance events, with his best result being a second in the 1979 Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan.

Between 1979 and '84 he won four British titles, the 1979 British TT Formula One, the 1981 MCN British Streetbike – when he won seven out of eight rounds – the 1982 British TT Formula One and the 1984 ITV World of Sport Superbike series.

He has also won two World titles – the TT Formula One crown in 1979 and the TT Formula Three championship in 1980.

Haslam won the gruelling Macau GP six times – a record.

His first victory at the race in 1981 marked the first time a four-stroke had ever won there.

He was also runner-up in the 1982 TT Formula One World series.

In 1982 Haslam raced in three more GPs on the experimental four-stroke Honda NR500.

In 1983 he was back for a full season on a factory Honda as teammate with American Freddie Spencer.

Haslam was at his best in the 1983, ending the three-day meeting as overall top points-scorer.

In 1984 another brother, Terry, was killed racing a sidecar outfit at Assen, the Netherlands.

He was third in eight other races, including the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1984 to Randy Mamola and Eddie Lawson.

In his final season on the Italian Cagiva alongside Randy Mamola and Alex Barros.

Haslam was fastest in practice just once, at the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp in 1984.

These results put Haslam as Britain's second best Grand Prix competitor behind Barry Sheene.

Haslam raced in the Macau Grand Prix six times at the Guia circuit and won a record-breaking six times.

His best result in 1985, his third and final year with Honda, was when he was second in the Dutch TT at Assen.

Haslam was beaten to the line by Randy Mamola, but was nearly 23 seconds in front of third-placed finisher Wayne Gardner, who set the fastest lap of the race.

He is a world speed record holder, after his efforts on the 500 Elf on a private, banked circuit in France in 1986, when he claimed the Flying Kilometre, the Standing Start Mile and Standing Start 10 Kilometre records

In 1987 when he ended the season fourth behind champion Wayne Gardner, runner-up Randy Mamola and third placed Eddie Lawson.

He raced in the 500 class from then until the end of the 1990 season, spending three years developing the experimental Elf Honda race bike with its single-sided swinging arm front and rear suspension.

In eight years in the premier class, Haslam had 61 top ten finishes, including nine on the podium.

Despite those misfortunes, Haslam kept on racing, with his final competitive outing on a Ducati 998 at the Race of the Year at Mallory Park in October 2004.

Initially Haslam raced on British short circuits, at first under the sponsorship of Halifax car dealer Mal Carter and then with Honda Britain.

His record of 6 wins was equalled by Michael Rutter at the 2005 meeting, and it's just broken at the 2011 one.

He finished in 12th at the Dutch TT at Assen in June, 11th the following weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and then 15th at Silverstone in August.

At the end of the season Haslam took the new two-stroke Honda NS500 to Malaysia and won the non-world championship Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix.