Geoff Duke: 1923 - 2015May 2015 Obituary | TT | Grand Prix | Norton | Gilera He's credited as being the man who invented the one-piece racing suit, was one of the fastest racers of his day, won 33 Grand Prix races (350cc & 500cc), won six TT races (Senior, Junior and Manx), and in 1951 was voted Sportsman of the Year, and in 1953 was appointed OBE. This is Geoff Duke who has died aged 92. He was born in St Helen, Lancashire and started riding on a 1923 Raleigh. He worked for a while as an engineer for the General Post Office (as it was then) and travelled around on a 175cc DOT. In 1942, aged just 19, he signed up for military service and became a motorcycle instructor with the Royal Corp of Signals. Post-war, he worked briefly for BSA and Norton. By 1948 he had begun his racing career at the Junior Isle of Man Grand Prix. He was riding a 350cc Norton but failed to finish (due to a split oil tank). However, the following year he tasted victory at Haddenham, and later that season he also won the senior Manx Grand Prix and the Senior Clubman’s TT. Suddenly he was on a roll, both literally and metaphorically, and for all competing riders he was the man to watch, and the man to beat. His riding style was noted for its fluidity, his manners noted for their grace. He was a gentleman rider of the old school, and courted controversy when he switched from Norton (for whom he'd notched up three world championship wins) to Gilera, a foreigner company from a nation (Italy) that just a few years earlier had been at war with Britain. Nevertheless, Geoff Duke saw the multi-cylinder future coming straight at him, and he wanted to get out there to meet it head on. In doing so, he became the first rider to win the 500cc world championship three times in succession. There was yet more controversy when, on another occasion, he became involved in motorcycle racing politics when he lobbied for better start money for fellow riders. That earned him a six-month ban. But his intervention had an impact and helped change the finances of the sport. 
His motorcycle racing career ended in 1959. But the need for speed was still there and, not for the first time, he tried his luck with four-wheeled motor racing (he had driven for Aston Martin). But in 1961, Duke crashed a Formula One Cooper and suffered serious injuries that put paid to his motor racing career. Presently he took up residence on the Isle of Man and became involved in numerous business ventures including the hotel trade and helping set up the first roll-on, roll-off ferry to the island. In 1981, he established Duke Marketing which for some time has been run by his son, Peter and routinely employs over 50 staff. Among other things, the business publishes and distributes sporting DVDs. In his later years, Geoff Duke assumed an easier life and settled into being one of the Isle of Man's grand old heroes and ambassadors. His final months were spent in a local nursing home. He was by no means the most flamboyant or dashing racer of his era (although he certainly cut a unique style). But he earned his spurs competing at the biking front line, and proved that when it came to motorcycle racing, the Duke was nothing if not a king. www.dukevideo.com — Dexxion | 
