Mike Hailwood vs Giacomo Agostini | 1967 Diamond Senior Isle of Man TT Race
123The Diamond Jubilee Year marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Isle of Man TT races and the 1967 Senior Race featured one of the greatest ever road racing duels as Giacomo Agostini went head to head against rival Mike Hailwood.
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Agostini pulverised the lap record from a standing start on the MV Agusta, breaking the 21-minute barrier with a speed of 108.38mph, to lead by 11.8 seconds. Then Hailwood broke the lap record on his Honda with a lap average speed of 108.77mph - a figure that was to remain unbeaten for eight years! But still Agostini led the race by 8.6 seconds.
After three laps, both were averaging over 108mph and the Grandstand seethed with excitement as first Agostini and then Hailwood came in for their pit stops. Hailwood had cut the lead down to two seconds, but he toured into the pits slowly. 'Get me a hammer,' he shouted as the mechanics started to refuel. His twist grip had been slipping off the handlebar. He battered it back into place before pulling down his goggles and roaring off again.
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The stop lasting 47.8 seconds, cost Hailwood ten seconds, his opponent's pit work had been much faster, and at the start of the fourth lap Agostini led by 15 seconds. The fight was really on!
Having to hold the loose throttle in place and use sheer brute strength to keep the bike on the road, Hailwood still managed once again to pull back Ago's lead. At the start of the fifth lap it was 11.6 seconds. At Ramsey it was reported that Hailwood led by one second, although he still got a '-6' from his board signalling station there,
By now Agostini was aware he was in danger and threw everything into it - timing at the Bungalow had him 2.5 seconds in the lead.
Then sensation! As Hailwood screamed through the start for his final lap, Agostini's light had not come on to indicate he had passed Signpost Corner. Finally the news reached the Grandstand - he had stopped on the Mountain with a broken chain. A groan went up from the crowd - the race was over.
Though he saw the signals from the spectators indicating that Agostini had retired, Hailwood pressed on until he reached Ramsey, where he saw the 'good' news held up by mechanic Nobby Clark and he toured home for a famous victory, holding onto his loose throttle.
This put Peter Williams into second spot, but Blanchard was out of luck. After a tremendous battle his primary chain broke on lap five. The surprise of the race was Birmingham's Steve Spencer, who was riding in his first TT. On Steve Lancefield's Norton, he became the first man to lap the course at over 100mph on a debut TT and went on to finish third.
Meanwhile back at the Grandstand, Hailwood was admitting: 'I was lucky. If Ago's chain hadn't broken, I don't think I could have won. That second lap was just about as fast as I could go. I made up quite a bit of time, but lost it at the pit stop when I had to fix the throttle.
'It started to work loose again on the fifth lap, and on the last lap I was riding virtually one handed. In fact I almost had to stop once to push it back on again and was holding it for most of the lap.'
It was Mike's 12th TT win and his third that week, a repeat of his 1961 performance.
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