lee
12-24-2008, 11:12 AM
From where we stand today, in an age of ultra hi-tech factory racing, the story of Kim Newcombe seems less fact than fiction, more romance than reality.
In the early 1970S the New Zealander attempted to win motorcycling's biggest prize with a two-stroke marine engine. What a joke! Not exactly, in 1973 Newcombe led the 500 world championship, ahead of the MV Agustas of Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read.
A lanky Kiwi with a can-do attitude, Newcombe wasn't even a fully-fledged road racer. He was an off-road man, riding motocross and speedway in Australia while working as an outboard engine mechanic. He also dabbled in hydroplane racing. But fate turned him into a GP rider who could race with the very best.
In 1968 Newcombe headed for Europe. He got a job in Germany, working as a development engineer for marine engine manufacturer Konig. Inevitably he ended up racing for Konig in world championship hydroplane races. Meanwhile a German bike racer had had the bright idea of bolting a Konig marine engine into a homebuilt race chassis. When the bike's creator got injured Newcombe applied for a roadrace licence, jumped on the bike and won his first roadrace.
160
The Konig was something of a lash-up, a flat¬four two-stroke mated to a Manx Norton gearbox and clutch. The bike was unsoned and unreliable (not surprising, since the engine was used to sea¬watar cooling) 'but when 'if ran it was fast. Newcombe's real job was development engineer while Aussie John Dodds gave the bike its grand prix debut in 1971 but then split from Konig. Once again Newcombe stepped into the breach.
Remarkably Newcombe scored a podium at his first GP in 1972, albeit three minutes behind Ago's MV He worked ceaselessly on the bike, smoothing off its multiple rough edges until it was ready to give the MV Agustas a proper run for their money in 1973.
Newcombe, still a roadrace novice, took a win and two podiums from the first six rounds to lead the world championship ahead of Read. But he died from head injuries sustained in a non¬championship race at Silverstone. He ended the year a posthumous second overall, splitting the MVs of Read and Agostini.
In the early 1970S the New Zealander attempted to win motorcycling's biggest prize with a two-stroke marine engine. What a joke! Not exactly, in 1973 Newcombe led the 500 world championship, ahead of the MV Agustas of Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read.
A lanky Kiwi with a can-do attitude, Newcombe wasn't even a fully-fledged road racer. He was an off-road man, riding motocross and speedway in Australia while working as an outboard engine mechanic. He also dabbled in hydroplane racing. But fate turned him into a GP rider who could race with the very best.
In 1968 Newcombe headed for Europe. He got a job in Germany, working as a development engineer for marine engine manufacturer Konig. Inevitably he ended up racing for Konig in world championship hydroplane races. Meanwhile a German bike racer had had the bright idea of bolting a Konig marine engine into a homebuilt race chassis. When the bike's creator got injured Newcombe applied for a roadrace licence, jumped on the bike and won his first roadrace.
160
The Konig was something of a lash-up, a flat¬four two-stroke mated to a Manx Norton gearbox and clutch. The bike was unsoned and unreliable (not surprising, since the engine was used to sea¬watar cooling) 'but when 'if ran it was fast. Newcombe's real job was development engineer while Aussie John Dodds gave the bike its grand prix debut in 1971 but then split from Konig. Once again Newcombe stepped into the breach.
Remarkably Newcombe scored a podium at his first GP in 1972, albeit three minutes behind Ago's MV He worked ceaselessly on the bike, smoothing off its multiple rough edges until it was ready to give the MV Agustas a proper run for their money in 1973.
Newcombe, still a roadrace novice, took a win and two podiums from the first six rounds to lead the world championship ahead of Read. But he died from head injuries sustained in a non¬championship race at Silverstone. He ended the year a posthumous second overall, splitting the MVs of Read and Agostini.