“Little” Bill Ivy: The Life & Death of Motorcycling’s Lost F1 Star

From the dealership floors of Maidstone to the twists and turns of Montjuich and Monza, Bill Ivy’s skill on a motorcycle quickly propelled him to greater heights than he could’ve ever imagined. As 125cc world champion at just 25 years old and wielding unlimited potential as a quick-learning Formula 2 racer by 26, Ivy was destined for great things on just about any amount of wheels you could think of. But just as life was turning a new leaf for Bill in the aftermath of an iconic and bitter rivalry with Phil Read, it was all cruelly taken away from him at the height of his powers. Lauded as someone with “more natural ability than anyone [he’d] seen coming into motor racing” by the great Sir Jackie Stewart, this is the story of “Little” Bill Ivy. List of Sources + Music + More Specifics (got too long for the description!): https://pastebin.com/1SHq6UqL Special Thanks: Alan Peck and Mick Walker - Authors who this video would not have been possible without Andrew Green - Longtime admin of ‘Bill Ivy THE LEGEND’ Facebook group, great pictures and resources Bernd Fisher - Incredible pictures of Bill on his final day British Pathe - Just about every yearly transition clip was from these folks lol Duke Video - The only source of digitized audio recordings of Bill I could find Dave Riley - His Weebly page (found in the Articles section) is a godsend for old race programmes Morton Media Group - Treasure trove of Bill pictures used in Mick Walker's book Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. There are certain scenes from the Formula 1/MotoGP calendar where race footage is used. All those rights are property of FOM/MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group. Other photos and news elements are used solely for the purpose of assisting the original content to illuminate a more in depth story. (And one last note for you folks: NO AI WAS USED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO!) Tags: Bill Ivy,Yamaha,MotoGP,FIM,Phil Read,Motorsport,Motorsports,Racing,Motorcycling,Formula 2, Formula 1,Jackie Stewart,Jawa,Brands Hatch,Isle of Man,Mike Hailwood Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:41 Bill’s beginnings 03:19 1960: Season-ending injuries 04:12 1961: Moving on up 05:30 1962 and 1963: Misfortune, chaos, and new attention 07:46 1964: Pure domination with an old friend 09:02 1965: Grand Prix motorcycling debut and Formula 3 wheeling 12:23 1966: Yamaha’s new star 16:31 1967: Becoming a world champion 18:54 1968: A legendary rivalry and a bitter retirement 28:05 1969: A return to two wheels and a sensational Formula 2 debut 34:52 An Untimely Goodbye 38:00 Phil Read’s Future 40:50 Bill Ivy in F1: What could’ve been! 42:16 The fall of Czechoslovakia in Grand Prix motorcycle racing 44:12 Epilogue 46:56 THANKS! + Outro