Barry Sheene Biography

First Grand Prix: 125cc Spanish GP, 1970

First Grand Prix win: 125cc Belgian GP, 1971

Last Grand Prix win: 500cc Swedish GP, 1981

Last Grand Prix: 500cc - San Marino - 1984

The only Brit to win the 500 Grand Prix Championship.

Often remembered for his early 1980s television advertising campaign for Brut aftershave.

Claimed to have lost his virginity at age 14, in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields church in central London.

Following his serious crash at the 1975 Daytona 200 in Florida, the first thing he asked for from the nurse when he regained consciousness was a cigarette.

Managed to race with a bolt in his left wrist, metal plates in both his knees and 28 screws in his legs, at one stage of his career.

Towards the end of his life, became involved in historic motorcycle racing.

Raced in 102 Grands Prix, with 23 wins, 52 podium finishes and 19 pole positions.

Kenny Roberts – former motorcycle racer and the first American to win the 500cc Road Racing World Championship – was Sheene’s greatest friend and rival.

In 1973, invented the back protector for bike racers, initially using old helmet visors and placing them so they could only bend in one direction. In 1977, Sheene sold the concept to Dianese, a motorcycle protective gear manufacturer.

The FIM (governing body of motorcycle racing) recommended that Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in Kent (host of 12 British Grands Prix between 1964 and 1986) underwent reconstruction for safety reasons. The Dingle Dell section was renamed Sheene’s Corner, in his honour.