Racing legend and all-round motorcycle hero Barry Sheene has finally lost his lengthy struggle against cancer. Sheene, 52, died in hospital in Australia.

Always an extremely talented racer, Sheene was also arguably the first real sporting superstar in the country, becoming as instantly recognisable (and marketable) as any contemporary movie or pop star. His good looks, ready wit and business savvy combined to make him one of the most important figures ever in motorcycling - thanks to Barry Sheene bike racing became a fashionable sport again and a lot of the negative press which biking received was negated by having such an eloquent and likeable ambassador.

Sheene's racing debut was on a 125 Bultaco in 1968, and was almost by accident. He had taken his father's bike to Brands Hatch to run it in and was spotted by a marshall who phoned his home to tell his father that young Barry was just about the fastest rider out there. Coupled with the fact that Barry was one of the very few people who took a bike, ran it in, stripped it and rebuilt it without blowing the engine somewhere along the line, his obvious ability meant that he was invited to race the next weekend.

Throughout his career, Sheene's mechanical sympathy and understanding stood him in good stead as he was one of the few riders in the paddock who could actually set a bike up to work properly rather than just riding round the problems - a talent that became increasingly important as his machines became faster and more powerful.

Major honours had to wait until 1970, when he won the British 750 championship, but real big league success came the next year when he finished second in the World 125cc championship, just 2 points behind the legendary Angel Nieto. In 1973, riding a factory 750 Suzuki, he won his first international title in the shape of the European 750cc championship. As well as demonstrating his riding ability he also gave a glimpse of his developing business acumen as he guaranteed his visibility on the grid by being one of the first riders ever to wear white leathers while everyone else was wearing the more traditional black.

The next major milestone, certainly in Sheene's public profile, came in 1975 with a horrendous getoff in practice at Daytona. Winding the big Suzuki up towards 180mph, the back suddenly stepped out throwing Sheene off and breaking his thigh, wrist and collarbone. Despite the injuries, Sheene remained up-beat, made the most of his situation and was back, racing competitively, within just 6 weeks. On the racing side, it is only fair to point out that in a season somewhat dogged by injury and mechanical derangements, Sheene continued to contest both 500 and 750 championships and won every race which he finished.

1976 was a great year for British motorsport. While James Hunt, who was to Formula 1 what Sheene was to bike racing, won his championship, Sheene took the 500cc World Title by 24 points on the still improving RG500. He also won the British Superbike championship on the aging 750 Suzuki and the Brtish 500 championship. Not a bad year, then.

1977 saw him retain the championship by a similar margin, having achieved 6 wins from 9 starts.

1978 was a fantastic year for racing audiences as Sheene and arch-rival Kenny Roberts battled all season long in some of the closest racing seen. Ultimately the championship went to Roberts by just 10 points, despite Sheene being far more consistent. 1978 also saw Barry Sheene awarded the MBE for his services to the sport.

1980 saw Barry on a less than totally competitve privateer Yamaha 500 and was not the best season for him on-track. However, his obvious ability and massive commitment saw him back on a factory machine in 1981 - again a Yamaha - and he ended the season in a reasonable 5th place on a bike which was now toward the end of its development cycle.

1982 should have been the year that Barry regained the World Title. After a storming start where he finished 2nd to Roberts (who was on a far superior machine) and consistent podium finishes, he was finally rewarded by Yamaha giving him a V4 to at last put him on an equal footing with Roberts, at last as far as machinery was concerned. Silverstone saw him lapping within 1 second of the outright lap record in practice when, cresting a rise at around 160mph he hit another bike lying on the track. It seemed as though no-one could have survived an accident like that. The scene was more like a plane crash than a bike accident, but astonishingly Sheene not only survived but did so in good form. The expertise of Nigel Cobb saved Sheene's legs and his own incredible willpower and strength of character did the rest.

Despite his total recovery from the appalling injuries he sustained in that crash, Yamaha withdrew their support for 1983 feeling that someone who had been that badly hurt would not be able to handle a full works bike. Fortunately, Sheene was not the sort of man to take that lying down, and he promptly got himself a semi-works ride with Heron Suzuki, the UK importer. The bikes were little more than customer spec RG500s with a few bolt on goodies, but they were enough for a rider with Sheene's talent to take to a very credible 9th place in the World Championship.

1984 started off with, arguably, Sheene's best ever race. Starting from the back row of the grid in a soaking wet Kyalami, Sheene carved his way through the field until by the end he was in 3rd place and taking over 2 seconds a lap from the leaders. He finished in 3rd place, just the length of the straight bhenind Eddie Lawson and Raymond Roche. The rest of the season was something of a struggle as the bikes handled well enough but were down on power and not really competitve.

1985 saw Sheene move to car racing for a season, running a Toyota in the British Saloon car series, but by now his injuries were starting to take exception to the British climate so he and his family emigrated to Australia where the weather is kinder to damaged joints.

Since emigrating, Barry Sheene has been a regular visitor to British podiums at such events as Goodwood, Scarborough and variuos classic rounds. He has also been a TV commentator, magazine pundit and truck racer. But above all, Barry Sheene was, and will always be, one of the finest ambassadors of motorcycling, racing and British sport in general that we will ever see. Our best wishes go to Stephanie and their children.

Got something to say about this? Make your comments here!

Not sure how it works or what this is all about? Fair enough - you can find out all about it here.