John Glen Williams (27 May 1946 – 12 August 1978) was an English motorcycle short-circuit

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

who also entered selected Grands Prix on the near-continent. He mostly raced as a "privateer" having a personal sponsor, Gerald Brown. Williams died in Northern Ireland, following an accident when racing at an event held on closed public roads near

Dundrod Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, v ...

Career

Williams began racing in 1966, and won the ''Stars of Tomorrow'' meeting at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

in 1968 on a 250 cc

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

. He turned professional in 1973, and won the 250, 350 and 500 cc classes at that year's

Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a defunct motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race which took place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Due to the races having the fastest aver ...

, the first rider to win three Ulster GP races in a single day. In 1974 he won the 350cc, 500cc and 750cc classes at the

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...

, marking the first time a competitor had won three classes at the event. He also raced for

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

in endurance events such as the Bol d'Or. His best season was in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

when he finished in fifth place in the 500 cc world championship on a

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

motorcycle. Williams won his only world championship race when he defeated

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and , most prominently as a member of the Su ...

at the

1976 Belgian Grand Prix The 1976 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder, near Heusden-Zolder in Belgium on 16 May 1976. The race was the fifth round of the 1976 Formula One season. It was the 34th Belgian Grand Prix and the third to be held at C ...

. He also looked set for victory in that year's

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the wiktionary:blue ribbon, blue r ...

, setting a new outright lap record for the course at . Sadly, having led the race throughout, he ran out of petrol within sight of the chequered flag, pushing his bike across the line to finish seventh.John Williams career profile at the Isle of Man TT web page
/ref> Williams was named as Sports Personality of the Year for 1976 by the

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

. Williams turned down the offer of a place on the factory-backed ''Texaco Heron Suzuki'' team in 1977, preferring to race as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

, although well-publicised differences between himself and Barry Sheene may have been a contributing factor. He was a five-time winner of the

race in Northern Ireland and a four-time winner at the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

. Williams won the 500 cc race in the 1978

, but died from injuries suffered after crashing at Wheeler's Corner in the inaugural TT Formula One event later that same day. He was a resident of

Heswall Heswall () is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was historically part of Cheshire and became part of Merseyside in 1974. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 202 ...

, a town on the Wirral,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England.

John Williams Trophy

The John Williams Trophy is an annual award at the

Isle of Man TT Races The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May and runs fo ...

. It is presented to the rider who completes the fastest lap in the Superbike TT race.IoM TT.com official site Awards
Retrieved 2015-06-20

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John 1946 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Cheshire Sportspeople from Heswall English motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Northern Ireland 20th-century English sportsmen