Word: hailwood
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Flat Out for Speed. Then it was the heavyweights' turn. Britain's Mike Hailwood, 23, waited patiently while mechanics fiddled with the throttle of his scarlet, Italian-made M.V. Augusta, revving the engine to warm up heavy racing oil. "May the best man win," boomed a loudspeaker, and the starting gun fired. Legs pumping furiously, Hailwood pushed the big 500-cc. bike across the starting line. The engine caught, and he hopped aboard side saddle, gunning his throttle in the same motion. By the time he heaved a leg over the saddle and slipped into position...
...Hailwood leaned forward along the M.V.'s gas tank, resting his chin on a sponge rubber shock absorber, hiking his legs up like a jockey. He rocketed through "The Bungalow"-a series of left and right bends-at more than 100 m.p.h., steering by shifting his weight from side to side. Flat out on the straights, he gunned up to 150 m.p.h. Hailwood sped six times around the twisting course and flashed across the finish line more than 2 min. ahead of his closest competitor. Astonished officials announced that he had broken the course record with an average speed...
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