Ralph Beverly Rensen was an English

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer. Rensen was killed on 16 June 1961 while competing in the

1961 Isle of Man TT The 1961 Isle of Man TT races, the fourth round of the 1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, involved five races on the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course on the Isle of Man. Three of the races were won by Mike Hailwood. He completed the six la ...

, aged 28 years. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. His father was Dutch and an executive with a firm in Crosby. Ralph attended

St Mary's College, Crosby St. Mary's College is an independent Roman Catholic coeducational day school in Crosby, Merseyside, about north of Liverpool. It comprises an early years department "Bright Sparks" (age 0-4), preparatory school known as "The Mount" (age 4-11 ...

. He is buried in the Borough Cemetery, Douglas Isle Of Man, almost directly opposite the grandstand. From 1953 up to his death in 1961 he competed in every year of the Isle of Man TT. He started his racing career in the Manx Grand Prix of 1953 in the 350cc 'Junior' class but did not finish the race. The race in the 500cc 'Senior' class he finished 33rd. The next year, 1954, he finished in the 350cc in 14th place. From 1955 up to and including 1960 he competed in the Junior TT, the Senior TT and the

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 ...

. All these years he rode

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

models, except for the 250cc

Velocette Velocette is a range of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during ...

in 1957 which he failed to finish, and a one-off appearance with the NSU Sportmax of Fron Purslow in 1960, after Purslow had injured himself in training. In 1959 he also started in the 500cc-class of the French GP. In 1960 he won his first championship points when finishing fifth in the 350cc and fourth after a photo finish in the 500cc Ulster Grand Prix. These results led to a 12th place in the final world championship classification of both the 350cc-class as well as the 500cc-class. Meanwhile, he raced in many national races in

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, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and during the

Cookstown 100 Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster co ...

of 1960 he declared that he wanted to stop racing after his friend

Dave Chadwick David Vincent Chadwick (24 September 1930–15 May 1960) was a Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer. His best season was in 1958 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1958 when he finished in fourth place i ...

had fatally crashed during races in

Mettet Mettet (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Mettet had 11,977 inhabitants. The total area is 116.78 km², giving a population density of 1 ...

. However, in 1961 he was hired by

Bultaco Bultaco was a Spanish manufacturer of two-stroke motorcycles from 1958 to 1983. In May 2014, a new Bultaco was announced. Origins The origin of the Bultaco motorcycle company dates from May 1958. Francesc Xavier Bultó, Francesc "Paco" Bultó ...

as factory rider. His season started with the 500cc race in the German GP on the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

but he did not manage to finish with his Norton. The following 350cc race he finished in fourth place. The next race was the Isle of Man TT. In the Junior TT he finished third behind

Phil Read Phillip William Read, (1 January 1939 – 6 October 2022) was an English professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1961 to 1976. Read is notable for being the first competitor to win world championship ...

(Norton) and

Gary Hocking Gary Stuart Hocking Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (30 September 1937 – 21 December 1962) was a Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesian former professional motorcycle road racing, road and car racer. He ...

(MV Agusta). In the 'Lightweight' 125cc TT he finished sixth on his Bultaco. During the Senior TT he fatally crashed near milestone eleven of the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...

. At the end of that year he finished posthumously 6th in the 350cc-class and 19th in the 125cc world championship. Ralph Rensen career statistics at the MotoGP website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rensen, Ralph 1961 deaths English motorcycle racers 125cc 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 the Isle of Man Sportspeople from Liverpool Place of birth missing 1933 births People educated at St Mary's College, Crosby 20th-century English sportsmen