Gregory John Hansford (8 April 1952 – 5 March 1995) was an Australian professional motorcycle and touring car racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1978 to 1981 and in Australian touring car championships from 1982 to 1994. Hansford was a two-time vice-champion in the 250cc road racing world championships. With 10 Grand Prix victories to his credit, he is ranked fourth for the most Grand Prix wins by an Australian behind Mick Doohan (54 wins), Casey Stoner (38) and Wayne Gardner (18).
After his international motorcycle racing career ended prematurely in 1981 due to serious injuries from a racing accident, Hansford returned to Australia and established himself as a competitive driver in Australian touring car competitions. Hansford's 1993 Bathurst 1000 victory gave him the unique distinction of winning a race at the Mount Panorama Circuit in both motorcycle and automobile racing events. He died in an accident while competing in a Supertouring race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in 1995. In 2016 he was inducted into the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame.
Motorcycle racing career Early Australian racing
Hansford was born in East Brisbane, Queensland, Australia where he attended Milton State School (1958–1960), the Anglican Church Grammar School (1961–1967) and Brisbane State High School (1967–1969). He worked as a motorcycle mechanic and began racing motorcycles in 1971 with financial assistance from his mother.
Hansford began competitive motorcycle racing in dirt track racing and then motocross, before focusing on road racing in the early 1970s. John Taylor at Brisk Sales supported his early road racing career by offering him the opportunity to race a Kawasaki H1R, which led to an offer to race for the Brisbane Yamaha distributor, Annand and Thompson. He became known for his mastery of the Lakeside International Raceway, his home circuit near Brisbane.
In 1974, Yamaha introduced the TZ750 which would dominate the 750cc class during the 1970s. The Annand and Thompson-Yamaha team obtained one of the newly-released machines on which Hansford made his international racing debut at the 1974 Daytona 200, then considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world. However, during the race the motorcycle experienced ignition problems and he failed to finish.
Hansford returned to Australia where his battle with Warren Willing in the 1974 Unlimited Class Grand Prix at the Mount Panorama Circuit has been cited as one of the greatest Australian motorcycle races of the 1970s. Both competitors rode similar Yamaha TZ750s in an event that featured numerous lead changes throughout the 20 lap race, before Willing took the victory over Hansford by a narrow margin. Despite losing the Mount Panorama round, Hansford prevailed to win the 1974 Unlimited Class Australian national championship at the age of 21. The victory marked the first of six Australian motorcycle road racing National Championships in different classes that he won during his motorcycle racing career.
Kawasaki sponsorship In 1975, Hansford was contracted by Kawasaki Australia to replace the injured rider, Ron Toombs. He and his Kawasaki co-rider, Murray Sayle, won the 1975 Castrol Six Hour Production Bike Race at Amaroo Park riding a Kawasaki Z1. He made his European debut at the French round of the 1975 FIM Formula 750 Championship held at the Magny-Cours Circuit. In a 1976 race held at the Laverton Air Force Base just outside Melbourne, Hansford rode the newly-released, water-cooled Kawasaki KR750 to victory over Grand Prix-winner, Pat Hennen.
Hansford returned to the Daytona 200 in 1977, where despite the domination of the 750cc class by the Yamaha TZ750, he posted a credible fourth place result as the highest-placed Kawasaki rider. Hansford’s KR750 lacked the power to compete with the Yamaha TZ750, but he made up the deficit with sheer ability. At the 1977 Laguna Seca round of the 750cc AMA National Championship divided into two heat races, he scored second and third place finishes, then defeated veteran Gary Nixon in a race long battle to win the 250cc class. At the Canadian round of the 1977 FIM Formula 750 Championship held at the Mosport Circuit on September 18, Hansford beat Yvon Duhamel and eventual Formula 750 champion, Steve Baker for the victory.
Hansford's international results were so impressive that, the annual motorsports publication, Motocourse, rated him as the number five rider in the world, despite the fact that he had never ridden in an FIM World Championship Grand Prix race.
World Championships Hansford moved up to the 1978 Grand Prix World Championships as part of the Team Kawasaki Australia effort that consisted of the Kawasaki KR250 and KR350 as well as the KR750, with Hansford as the rider and Neville Doyle as manager and mechanic. Their plan was to contest the world 250cc and 350cc world championships and, whatever Formula 750 events that their schedule allowed.
Hansford would face a field of rivals who mostly competed on privateer Yamaha TZ 250s and TZ 350s, but his most significant rival was South African, Kork Ballington, riding similar Kawasaki KRs supported by Kawasaki’s British importer. Ballington's small physique gave him an advantage over the larger and heavier Hansford, who stood over . Not only did this give Ballington a power-to-weight advantage, his small physique also gave him an aerodynamic advantage by allowing him to tuck his body behind his motorcycle's windscreen, while Hansford's limbs protruded beyond his windscreen.
In his world championship debut at the 1978 Venezuelan Grand Prix, Hansford suffered a poor start in the 350cc race and was outside of the top twenty after the first lap. He recovered in an impressive manner to take the race lead after four laps and had a three-quarter lap lead over the opposition when his motorcycle had a mechanical failure. He also dropped out of the 250cc Grand Prix with mechanical problems while holding third place.
At the following 1978 Spanish Grand Prix, Hansford was initially denied an entry by Spanish race organizers who claimed that he was not on the official FIM grading list. As Hansford had withdrawn from the previous Grand Prix in Venezuela without a result, Spanish race organizers claimed to have no record of Hansford's previous 250cc class experience. Eventually the FIM relented and Hansford was allowed to race, but with only one qualifying session left. Hansford posted a qualifying time 0.1 seconds behind pole sitter, Kenny Roberts, then won the race over Roberts to claim his maiden Grand Prix victory.
At the 1978 French Grand Prix, Hansford won both the 250cc and 350cc classes, the first of three 250/350 double victories in 1978. Ballington beat Hansford by a half a wheel in the 250cc Nations Grand Prix at Mugello and both riders were credited with identical race times.
Hansford demonstrated his ability to learn new circuits at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix where he claimed the pole position for the 350cc class with a faster lap time than the 500cc class pole sitter, Johnny Cecotto. At the German Grand Prix held at the daunting, long Nürburgring racetrack, considered too dangerous for the Formula One championship, Hansford was the fastest 250cc and 350cc qualifier, on his first visit to the circuit.
Ballington won three of the last five 250cc races to edge out Hansford for the championship by six points. Ballington also claimed the 350cc World Championship, while Yamaha's Takazumi Katayama finished in second by a narrow one point margin over Hansford. At the end of the World Championship season, Hansford had won seven 250cc and 350cc Grand Prix races.
After Pat Hennen suffered career-ending injuries while competing in the 1978 Isle of Man TT, the Suzuki factory racing team attempted to replace the American rider during the off-season by offering Hansford a contract to join their team as Barry Sheene's teammate in the 500cc class for the 1979 season. However, Hansford rejected Suzuki's offer, choosing to remain loyal to the Kawasaki team.
Hansford suffered injuries while testing his motorcycle prior to the season. His injuries and tire problems led to a slow start in which he failed to score any points until the fourth round when he won the 350cc Nations Grand Prix at the Imola Circuit. At mid-season, the team switched from Michelin to the Dunlop tires used by Ballington. Hansford would win three Grand Prix races in 1979, all in the 350cc class. Once again, he finished second in the 250 championship and third in the 350. His victory at the 1979 350cc Finnish Grand Prix marked the final victory of his motorcycle racing career. He also rode the KR750 to win the French round of the 1979 Formula 750 championship, held at the Nogaro Circuit.
1979 riders' revolt During the 1979 season, the riders had boycotted the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix due to the dangerous track surface. The circuit had been paved just days before the race, creating a track that many of the racers felt was unsafe due to diesel fuel seeping to the surface. The event highlighted the animosity between motorcycle racers and the FIM concerning track safety. At the time, many motorcycle Grand Prix races were still being held on street circuits with hazards such as telephone poles and railroad crossings. Dedicated race tracks of the time were also dangerous for motorcycle racers due to the steel Armco trackside barriers preferred by car racers. Rather than suitable financial compensation for risking their lives, race organizers expected riders to race for prestige and the opportunity to compete for world championship points. In , the reigning 500 cc world champion, Geoff Duke and thirteen other riders were given six-month suspensions for merely threatening to strike.
Yamaha rider Kenny Roberts began talking to the press about forming a rival racing series to compete against the FIM's monopoly. At the end of the 1979 season, Hansford joined Roberts, Barry Sheene and British motorsports journalist, Barry Coleman, in announcing their intention to break away from the FIM and create a rival race series called the World Series, with most of the top Grand Prix racers joining in the revolt. The Yamaha factory then offered Hansford a chance to replace Roberts and compete in 1980 500cc FIM World Championship, however he chose to remain loyal to the rival race series and rejected their offer.
When the rival race series collapsed due to difficulties in securing enough race venues, Yamaha withdrew their offer as Roberts returned as their factory sponsored rider, leaving Hansford without a place on a 500cc class team. Rather than staying in Europe to race in the smaller classes, Hansford chose to return home and raced Kawasaki 250s and 350s in the 1980 Australia national championships, while Kawasaki developed their new KR500 for the FIM 500cc World Championship.
Hansford made only one appearance in the World Championships at the final round in Germany, where he debuted the new KR500 featuring a monocoque chassis, but retired with a mechanical issue. At the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 1980, he teamed with Eddie Lawson riding a modified Kawasaki Kz1000 to a second place behind Wes Cooley and Graeme Crosby on a Yoshimura-GS1000.
Belgian Grand Prix accident The Kawasaki factory launched a full effort in the 500cc World Championship, with Hansford and Ballington riding the KR500. He won the pole position at the Imola 200 pre-season race, but while avoiding slower riders, he hit a damp patch of track and crashed, sustaining a fractured tibia.