Jock Taylor (March 9, 1954 - August 15, 1982) was a Scottish World Champion motorcycle sidecar racer. is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the country. ... BMW R51/3 motorcycle with sidecar Ural Retro with sidecar Vespa scooter with sidecar This article concerns sidecar as an attachment to a motocycle. ...

John Robert Taylor was born in Pencaitland, East Lothian, and entered his first sidecar race at the age of 19, as the passenger to Kenny Andrews (1974). The following year he took part in his first race as a driver. Pencaitland (Cymric pen-caeth-llan, `head of the narrow enclosure) is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, about 16 miles south-east of Edinburgh, and 6 miles south-west of Haddington. ... East Lothian (Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. ...

Racing career

Taylor was Scottish Sidecar Champion in 1977, 1978 and 1979. Most of the races were held at Knockhill. He was British Sidecar Champion in 1979 and 1980 at Donnington. In 1980, Taylor and his passenger Benga Johansson won 4 races, and finished on the podium in all seven events. He collected the only "Did Not Finish" of his sidecar TT career on the famous Isle of Man circuit in 1979. He went on to become a four-time TT winner. Two years later, Taylor and Johansson raised the sidecar lap record at the Isle of Man TT to 108.29 mph (ca. 175 km/h), a lap record which stood for 7 years. Knockhill racing circuit, Fife Knockhill Racing circuit in Fife is Scotlands national Motorsport centre. ... Donnington may refer to: Donnington, Berkshire See map Donnington Castle See map Donnington, Gloucestershire See map Donnington, Herefordshire See map Donnington, Oxfordshire Donnington Bridge Donnington, Shropshire See map Donnington, Telford See map Donnington, West Sussex See map Castle Donington Donington Donington Park, a motor racing track and music festival venue... At Brandywell, looking North along A18 during 2005 sidecar TT The Sidecar TT is a motorcycle sidecar road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. ... Joey Dunlop riding down from Kates Cottage towards Creg-ny-Baa. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ...

Death

In the 1982 Finnish Grand Prix, held under very wet conditions, Taylor and Johansson's bike slid off the road and collided with a telephone pole along the course. The emergency services were removing him from the wreckage when a second sidecar team slid into them. Taylor was killed in the second accident. He is buried in the cemetery at Pencaitland, and a memorial to him was erected in the village in December 2006. Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. ...

Annual Jock Taylor Memorial Race

Every year sidecar racers travel from all over the UK to Knockhill in Scotland to race in the prestigious 'Jock Taylor Memorial Trophy' race. Some people now think this particular race should be held at Scotland's other race circuit, East Fortune for a change!

Links

• Taylor's Rider Profile on the official Isle of Man TT website. [1]
• Biographical article in Bikesport News, "Scotland's Sidecar Legend". [2]
• BBC News article on unveiling of memorial, December 2006.[3]