Member Inducted 2007
John Hobbs
History
John Hobbs' racing career began in 1966 in the long-established
sport of sprinting. He combined this with Drag Racing and many
successful National and World record attempts before migrating
totally to drag racing where he became a dominant force in Europe.
In the late 1960's he began running a series of Triumph powered
machines christened Olympus and gained his first championship in
1968. In the early 1970's he moved on to Olympus II - a twin engine
machine - before building the legendary double Weslake
Hobbit. By 1979 The Hobbit was knocking on the
door of the seven-second barrier - picking up an array of event
wins on the way - incredible when only a decade earlier the record
was in the nine second bracket.
During his illustrious career there are many achievements to
celebrate including bettering esteemed visitors from America in ET
and speed in 1975, winning Championships and setting numerous World
& National records over various distances being the most
notable. He once even tore up the hallowed tarmac at Santa Pod in
the process of making a static burnout!
John raced against more than one generation of bike racer and
had many memorable duels with the late Henk Vink during his time on
the strip. John retired personally from competition in 1979
but went on to manage his own racing team and continues to ride
successfully at sprint events once or twice a year.