Bill Ivy - The Will to Win

By: Mick Walker .

When Bill Ivy was fatally injured while practising for the East German Grand Prix in July 1969, motorcycle racing lost one of its greatest-ever competitors. As a tribute to Bill, leading motorcycle historian Mick Walker has written Bill Ivy: The Will to Win. Bill Ivy was certainly not only a great rider, but also a unique personality. He had a steely determination to succeed, an almost fearless courage, which meant he never backed away from a challenge, and a love of fashion and fast cars. Although only 5ft 2in tall, he more than made up for his lack of stature by his immense upper body strength, which meant he could cope with any size of motorcycle from a 50cc Itom to a 750cc Norton-engined Matchless G15 CSR. It was as a member of the Yamaha factory team that he not only became World Champion, but also set the first 100mph TT lap record on a 125cc machine — only a decade after Bob McIntyre had first achieved this feat on a machine with an engine size four times larger!

Bill Ivy: The Will to Win is a fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest-ever motorcycle racing stars.

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