Gary Stuart Hocking MBE (30 September 1937 – 21 December 1962) was a

Rhodesian Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

former professional motorcycle

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

and car racer. He competed in the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

world championships from 1958 to 1962, most prominently as a member of the

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is an Italian high end motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded by Domenico Agusta, Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of ...

factory racing team where he won the 350cc and 500cc world championships.

Early life

Hocking was born in

Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...

, near

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, in south-east Wales, but grew up in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(renamed Zimbabwe in 1980) where he attended

Gifford High School Gifford High School is a government-owned boys-only high school in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The school was founded in 1927 as the Bulawayo Technical School led by Mr Philip Henry Gifford and four teachers, with an enrolment of 39 pupils. Timeline ...

. As a teenager, he began racing motorcycles on grass tracks. Before long, he had moved on to road racing circuits.

Motorcycle racing

He left Rhodesia to compete in Europe in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

and made an immediate impact, finishing 3rd behind the works

s at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

. He was sponsored by Manchester tuner/dealer Reg Dearden, who provided him with new 350 and 500 cc

Manx Norton The Norton Manx or Manx Norton is a British racing motorcycle that was made from 1947 to 1962 by Norton Motorcycle Company, Norton Motors Ltd. Norton had contested every Isle of Man TT race from the inaugural 1907 event through into the 1970s, ...

racing motorcycles. He spent the winter of 1958/1959 with the Costain family at their home in Castletown on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, learning the Mountain Course with George 'Sparrow' Costain, an established rider for the Dearden team, who had won the Senior

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

on a 500 Dearden-tuned Manx in 1954. In the

Junior TT The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Engine ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

he finished 12th from 22nd on the grid.Gary Hocking Isle of Man TT results at iomtt.com
/ref> In

, he was offered a ride by the East German MZ factory and finished second in the 250cc championship. During practice for the 1959 Junior TT, his 350 Manx Norton, and the machines of teammates Terry Shepherd and

John Hartle John Hartle (22 December 1933 – 31 August 1968) was an English professional road racer who competed in national, international and Grand Prix motorcycle events. Motorcycling career Born in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, Hartle began ra ...

, were fitted with the top-secret works 350 cc Desmodromic engine, but they ran standard engines for the actual race.

offered Hocking full factory support for the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

season and he repaid their confidence by finishing 2nd in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc classes. Following the retirement from motorcycle racing by defending champion,

John Surtees John Norman Surtees (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One from to . Surtees was a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycl ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, Hocking became MV Agusta's top rider and went on to claim dual

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in the 350 cc and 500 cc classes, in a dominant manner against little factory mounted opposition.

Auto racing

Hocking was deeply affected by the death of his friend,

Tom Phillis Thomas Edward Phillis (9 April 1934 – 6 June 1962) was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He won the 1961 125cc motorcycle road racing World Championship and was the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT mountain ...

at the

1962 Isle of Man TT The 1962 Isle of Man TT was a FIM event held on 4 June 1962 at the Snaefell Mountain Course. It was part of the 1962 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. 1962 Isle of Man Lightweight TT 125cc final standings 3 Laps (113.00 Miles) Mountain C ...

. After winning the

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 ...

, he announced his retirement from motorcycle racing and returned to Rhodesia. He felt motorcycle racing was too dangerous and decided a career in auto racing would be safer.''The Guardian'' page 7 Saturday 22 December 1962 He entered the Danish Grand Prix, Gold Cup and

Rand Grand Prix The Rand Grand Prix was a auto racing, motor race held at various circuits in South Africa. The first event took place in 1937 but it was not held regularly until the 1960s, when it was run to Formula One rules and formed part of the non-champion ...

, achieving two fourth places. Later that year, on 22 December, he was killed during practice for the

1962 Natal Grand Prix The 2nd Natal Grand Prix was a auto racing, motor race, run to South African Formula One-style rules, held on 22 December 1962 at Westmead Circuit, South Africa. The field was split into two heats, with a subsequent final. The heats consisted of ...

at the Westmead circuit. His car, a Rob Walker entered

Lotus 24 The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car''Automobile Year'', No. 10, 1962-1963, Page 198. designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Despite some early success in non-Championship Grands Prix, it was eclipsed by the technically s ...

, ran off the edge of the track at the end of the long right hand corner and somersaulted end over end twice. Hocking's head struck the roll hoop and he died some hours later in the Addington hospital in Durban. It is possible that the car suffered a front nearside suspension failure, and it is also possible that incorrectly reassembled steering – Hocking asked for a change on this item – might have been the cause; whatever was the reason, this caused the car to veer sharply to the left and somersault as he was going uphill and was approaching the crest of the rise. It is also likely that he was dehydrated and lost consciousness from that. He had been entered for the

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, South Africa, East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Ri ...

shortly awards, which would have allowed him to make his world championship debut, but following his death this was withdrawn. He was 25 years old.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Source: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Formula One results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Non-championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocking, Gary British emigrants to Southern Rhodesia Rhodesian people of British descent Rhodesian motorcycle racers Welsh motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Sportspeople from Caerleon Racing drivers who died while racing 1937 births 1962 deaths Zimbabwean motorsport people 20th-century Zimbabwean sportsmen Zimbabwean people of Welsh descent Sport deaths in South Africa Rhodesian Formula One drivers Rob Walker Racing Team Formula One drivers 500cc World Riders' Champions 350cc World Riders' Champions Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire