26 Facts About Ron Haslam

Ronald Haslam was born on 22 June 1956 and is an English former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who had been racing for over thirty years, winning two World titles, four British championships and having ridden in almost 110 GPs.

Ron Haslam raced at a handful of meetings in 1972 and 1973.

Ron Haslam has raced in many Endurance events, with his best result being a second in the 1979 Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan.

Ron Haslam was runner-up in the 750 British championship in 1975, '76 and '77 and second in the British Formula One series in 1978.

Ron Haslam was runner-up in the 1982 TT Formula One World Series.

Ron Haslam is a world speed record holder, after his efforts on the 500 Elf on a private, banked circuit in France in 1986 when he claimed the Flying Kilometre, the Standing Start Mile and Standing Start 10 Kilometre records.

Ron Haslam made his Grand Prix debut at the 1977 500cc British Grand Prix at Silverstone on a 500 Suzuki, crashing out of the race.

In 1982 Ron Haslam raced in three more GPs on the experimental four-stroke Honda NR500.

Ron Haslam raced in the 500 class from then until the end of the 1990 season, spending three years developing the experimental Elf Honda race bike with its single-sided swinging arm front and rear suspension.

In eight years in the premier class, Ron Haslam had 61 top ten finishes, including nine on the podium.

Ron Haslam was third in eight other races, including the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1984 to Randy Mamola and Eddie Lawson.

Ron Haslam was fastest in practice just once, at the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp in 1984.

Ron Haslam raced in the Macau Grand Prix six times at the Guia circuit and won a record-breaking six times.

Ron Haslam debuted at the 1978 TT races with a best place of fourth in the Formula Two race, later making his mark in 1981, when he was named winner of the Formula 1 race, only for the organisers to give the win the following day to Graeme Crosby.

Ron Haslam was back the following year to claim an undisputed victory.

Ron Haslam was a member of the British team in the then-annual Transatlantic Match Races between Britain and the United States.

Ron Haslam was at his best in the 1983, ending the three-day meeting as overall top points-scorer.

Ron Haslam had scored 70 points of his team's total, 15 more than Roger Marshall and 30 better than the next best, Barry Sheene.

Ron Haslam finished second in the British Superbike Championship, and stayed with Norton the following season.

In 1995 Ron Haslam contested the first Triumph Speed Triple series, winning the Oulton Park round of the championship.

Ron Haslam competed in the British 125 championship to give real practical assistance to Leon out on the track, and took fifth place at Donington Park in 1998.

Ron Haslam rode the 125 again the following year, but pressure from the organisers made him stop after just a couple of rounds and restrict his coaching to the pits.

In 2000, Ron Haslam raced a Honda Fireblade in the British Superstock series, marking his 28th year of competitive racing, with a best result of 6th at Donington Park.

Ron Haslam is a qualified private pilot, and he flies a Renegade Spirit biplane.

In July 2020 Haslam announced his race training school of 24 years based at Donington Park would close later in the year due to difficulties encountered with Corona Virus restrictions.

Ron Haslam was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Derby in July 2023, in recognition of his racing career and on-track instruction to over 86,000 race pupils.