Bill Webster

Record type: Motorsport Biographies

Biography: Age still 'over 21', Bill Websterm a car and motorcycle distributor from Crewe, rode a 125 cc Royal Enfield with good results in 1951. He set up a record lap at the Enniskillen 100 in winning the event at 54.6 mph; was first at the Mold Road races, second at Altxcar and third at Silverstone. Bill was second in the 250 cc class of the Leinster 200 and eighth in the same class of the Ulster Grand Prix.

He rode in the Junior and Lightweight TTs of 1947 and was 26th in the 250 cc class and eleventh in the 205. He was in both events again the following year but suffered two retirements. Ill luck dogged him again in 1949 and he retired in the first lap of the Lightweight. Later, however, he finished fifteenth in the 250 class of the Italian Grand Prix des Nations at Monza, averaging 79 mph. In the 1950 Junior TT he was 63rd on a Norton, but in the Lightweight he was forced to retire on the last lap. His bad luck continued in the Lightweight for the two following years. In 1951 he retired after one slow lap, whilst in 1952 he was one of the first retirements of the race.

He was ninth in the 1953 Lightweight and sixth in the 125 race. In 1954 he was third on an MV in the 125 cc race at Silverstone and followed this with a win in this class at Altcar, being third on his Velocette in the 250 cc race at the same venue. Crossing to Ireland, he was third in 350 cc races at Dublin and the Leinster 'Two Hundreds.' He was winner in 1955 of the 125 cc races at Oulton Park and Altcar, was fifth in the 125 cc TT (and sixth in the Lightweight), third in the 125 cc British championships at Thruxton, and fourth in the same class of the Dutch TT. The same 1956 125 cc TT was notable for its high number of non-finishers - and Bill was one of them on his fourth lap. Last year, however, he was eleventh in the same race at 61.07 mph. Hobby: Ice skating.

(TT Special, Friday, June 06, 1958, p26)

Competed in

Comments