John Milns West, (28 February 1909 – 6 June 2004) was a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Great Britain.

Motorcycle career

West was born in Belvedere, Kent to an English father and a Scottish mother. He initially concentrated on

grasstrack Motorcycle Grasstrack is a form of track racing which typically, in its current form, takes place on a flat track consisting of two straights and two bends usually constructed in a field. It is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in t ...

racing on an

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

motorcycle and was successful enough that the Ariel factory would sponsor him at the 1931

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 ...

. West progressed to compete in the 1933 Isle of Man TT where he impressed Triumph manager Edward Turner, who hired him as a rider. Afterwards, he took a job as sales manager for

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

. West rode a BMW to victory at the 1937 500cc

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 ...

held on the

Clady Circuit Clady Circuit situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland describes a motor-cycle road racing street circuit used for the Ulster Grand Prix. The Clady Circuit was used between 1922 and 1939 and an amended shorter circuit between 1947 and 1952. ...

. His win marked the first time that a non-British motorcycle had won the 500cc class at the Ulster Grand Prix. West returned the following year to win again at the 1938 Ulster Grand Prix. At the

1939 Isle of Man TT The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last races until 1947 due to the interruption by World War II. It was also the last of ten Isle of Man TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83. ...

, he finished second behind his German BMW teammate

Georg Meier Georg "Schorsch" Meier (; 9 November 1910 – 19 February 1999) was a German Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer famous for being the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT, the Blue Riband race of the Isle of Man TT Races, in 1939 ri ...

in 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 ...

. During the Second World War, West served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, rising to the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

. He managed factories where crashed and damaged aircraft were rebuilt for combat and, was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. After the war, he joined

Associated Motor Cycles Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies. It later absorbed Francis-Barnett, James Cycle Co, James, and Norton Motorcy ...

as a sales director. AJS had developed a new race bike known as the AJS Porcupine and West was the first person to ride the machine. He entered the

1947 Isle of Man TT The 1947 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the first race festival since 1939 due to the interruption of World War II. With the restart of racing, the ACU decided to add three Clubman-class races for production machines in Lightweight, Junior and S ...

with the bike but, teething problems relegated him to a 15th place although, he recorded the third fastest lap time.

Leslie Graham Robert Leslie Graham (14 September 1911 – 12 June 1953) was a British motorcycle road racing, road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champ ...

would later ride the AJS Porcupine to win the inaugural

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

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 * ...

500cc world championship. After a fifth-place finish in the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

Ulster Grand Prix, West retired from racing at the age of 41. He continued to work for Associated Motor Cycles until 1961 and later rejoined BMW.

Career statistics

By season

References

External links

Jock West on MotoGP.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Jock English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Kent 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Royal Air Force officers Members of the Order of the British Empire 1909 births 2004 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen