Malcolm Ernest Uphill (15 April 1935 – 15 August 1999) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

professional motorcycle racer. He competed in British national-level short-circuit and in

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

. Uphill was the first competitor in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races to achieve a 100 mph average lap speed on a production motorcycle. __TOC__

Motorcycle racing career

A native of Caerphilly, Wales, Uphill later lived at Heol,

Trecastle Trecastle ( cy, Trecastell) ("the town of the castle") is a village in Powys, Wales, situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) and in the community of Llywel. The village has a population ...

and was educated at Twyn Secondary Modern School. Apprenticed at the

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymne ...

former

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

works near Caerphilly, he worked as a fitter/turner/erector for

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

. In 1965, Uphill achieved a double win in the 350 cc 'Junior' and 500 cc 'Senior' races at the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period reduction from 14 to 9 days ...

. His best season in world championship competition was in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

when he finished in ninth place in the 250cc world championship. In 1969, he teamed with

Percy Tait Percy Tait (9 October 1929 – 17 November 2019) was an English professional motorcycle road racer and senior road tester for Triumph motorcycles, where he was estimated to have covered over a million miles of road testing. He later became a ...

to win the Thruxton 500 endurance race for production (road-based) machines and at the

1969 Isle of Man TT The 1969 Isle of Man TT, the fourth round of the 1969 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, involved a number of races on the Mountain Course on the Isle of Man. For the second year running Giacomo Agostini won both the Junior and Senior races, c ...

, Uphill won the 750 Production class on a Triumph Bonneville with a 100 mph lap, which prompted renaming of the Dunlop K81 motorcycle tyre as the

TT100 The Theban Tomb TT100 is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the mortuary chapel of the ancient Egyptian vizier Rekhmire. There is no burial chamber next ...

. Motorcycle Mechanics, June 1973, Dunlop full page advert, p.6 ''Every time they race you win. "Tyres like the K70, Ribbed and the fabulous K81, re-named the TT100 after lapping the TT course at over 100 mph on a production machine''". Accessed 23 March 2015 He also won the 750 Production class at the 1970

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a Northern Irish motorsport event established in 1929 for road racing motorcycles held on a street circuit known as ''the Triangle'' between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coas ...

held in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

followed by the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

TT 750 production class on a Triumph Trident. Uphill died aged 64 in 1999 of

asbestosis Asbestosis is long-term inflammation and scarring of the lungs due to asbestos fibers. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and chest tightness. Complications may include lung cancer, mesothelioma, and pulmonary heart diseas ...

. In 2011 a pub named ''The Malcolm Uphill'' was opened by

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It o ...

in Caerphilly town centre,''Caerphilly Observer''
10 October 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2015 and in 2013, following local fundraising, a bronze plaque dedicated to Uphill's memory was installed on a wall close to the pub location at Station Terrace.Motorcycle hero Malcolm Uphill honoured with plaque
''Caerphilly Observer'', 20 September 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2015 File:The Malcolm Uphill pub Caerphilly geograph 2925730.jpg, The Malcolm Uphill pub, opened in 2011 on the corner of Cardiff Road and Clive Street in the centre of Caerphilly File:Malcolm Uphill plaque Caerphilly geograph 4190982.jpg, Commemorative plaque installed into a wall during 2013 at Station Terrace, Caerphilly

References

External links

Short videos with commentary, Uphill and Tait production race and Triumph Bonneville 1969 TT races
(text content from Wikipedia)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uphill, Malcolm 1935 births 1999 deaths Sportspeople from Caerphilly Welsh motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders