Rodney Gould (10 March 1943 – 16 April 2024) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and UK short circuit specialist. Gould began racing in 1961 and made his first

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 ...

appearance in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. He rode a variety of machines including

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, ...

s and two-stroke

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 ...

s for the smaller classes, and was supported by UK

Aermacchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the It ...

concessionaire Syd Lawton from 1966, before turning to Yamaha TD2s and TR2s. Gould won the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

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 * ...

250cc

world championship 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 ...

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 ...

. After finishing third in the 250 class and fourth in the 500 class in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Gould retired from competition and took a position as Yamaha's European racing manager. In 1979 Gould established a retail motorcycle dealership in Birmingham named Hailwood and Gould, in partnership with famous former-racer

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...

, who was subsequently killed in a road traffic accident in 1981. In 1984, Gould was briefly Sales Manager for the second incarnation of

Hesketh Motorcycles Hesketh Motorcycles is a British motorcycle manufacturer, initially based in Daventry and Easton Neston house, Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, England. The company was formed by Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, Alexander, 3rd Lo ...

based at Lord Hesketh's Easton Neston stately home. Gould died at his home in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

on 16 April 2024, at the age of 81.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1950 to 1968: Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Rodney 1943 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Banbury British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers 500cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders 250cc World Riders' Champions 20th-century English sportsmen