Keith Turner (motorcyclist)

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Keith Turner
NationalityNew Zealand New Zealand
Born (1946-11-11) 11 November 1946 (age 77)
London, England
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1967 - 1972
First race1967 500cc Isle of Man TT
Last race1972 500cc Finnish Grand Prix
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
12 0 3 N/A N/A 75

Keith Turner (born 11 November 1946) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1967 to 1972. He had his best season in 1971 when he finished the year in second place in the 500cc world championship, behind the defending champion, Giacomo Agostini.[1]

Motorcycle racing career[edit]

Turner was born in London, England but, lived in New Zealand from the age of five.[2] He purchased a Matchless 500 as his first motorcycle at the age of 15.[2] He began motorcycle racing at the age of 16 aboard a BSA A50 while he completed a car mechanic apprenticeship.[2] By 1966 Turner was winning so often aboard a Bultaco 250 that, he made the decision to go to Europe to compete in the Grand Prix world championships.[2]

In 1967, Turner entered his first European race in Czechoslovakia, but he crashed his Bultaco 250 while leading in the rain.[2] During the next few seasons Turner rode one of six specially built 500cc Lintos, which was powered by a pair of 250cc Aermacchi-Harley Davidson four-stroke, single-cylinder engines joined.[2] Despite racing with and leading the reigning world champion, Giacomo Agostini during the 1968 500cc Finnish Grand Prix, the Lintos were extremely unreliable and Turner rarely finished a race although, he did win the preseason invitational Mettet Grand Prix in 1969.[2][3] In the 1970 250cc Finnish Grand Prix, he placed fifth aboard a Yamaha TD250.[1]

Turner's most successful world championship season came in 1971 racing on a Suzuki T500 sponsored by Rod Coleman, the first New Zealand competitor to win an Isle of Man TT race.[2] Turner would serve as his own mechanic.[2] He started the season finishing second to Agostini in the Austrian Grand Prix held at the Salzburgring circuit but then, crashed while in second behind Agostini at the West German Grand Prix held at the challenging Nurburgring circuit.[1][2] His Suzuki suffered mechanical difficulties at the Isle of Man TT resulting in a seventh-place finish.[2][4] At the Dutch TT, he made a poor start but, recovered to finish the race in fourth place.[1][2] After retiring from the Belgian Grand Prix with an engine failure he rebounded to score to consecutive second-place finishes behind Agostini at the East German and Swedish Grand Prix races.[1][2] He was in second place at the Finnish Grand Prix when an engine misfire forced him back to fourth place.[1][2] He ended the season with a sixth place in Italy and a fifth place in Spain to secure second place in the 500cc world championship, just one point ahead of Rob Bron, also riding a Suzuki T500.[1] New Zealand road racers had a string of second placings in the premier class – Ginger Molloy in 1970, Turner in 1971 and Kim Newcombe in 1973.[2]

Turner suffered through numerous mechanical problems in 1973 causing him to become disillusioned with racing in Europe and decided to return to New Zealand.[2] After racing motorcycles for a few more years and operating a motorcycle business he retired in Rotarua, New Zealand.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results[1][4][edit]

Points system from 1950 to 1968:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6
Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1969 onwards:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins
1967 250cc Bultaco ESP
- 		GER
- 		FRA
- 		IOM
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		DDR
10 		CZE
- 		FIN
- 		ULS
- 		NAT
- 		CAN
- 		JPN
- 		0 – 0
500cc Matchless GER
- 		IOM
24 		NED
- 		DDR
13 		CZE
- 		FIN
8 		ULS
- 		NAT
- 		JPN
- 		0 33rd 0
1968 250cc Aermacchi GER
11 		ESP
- 		IOM
RET 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		DDR
- 		CZE
11 		FIN
RET 		ULS
- 		NAT
- 		0 – 0
500cc Matchless GER
15 		ESP
- 		IOM
10 		NED
RET 		BEL
- 		DDR
8 		CZE
RET 		FIN
RET 		ULS
6 		NAT
6 		0 33rd 0
1969 250cc Aermacchi ESP
- 		GER
- 		FRA
- 		IOM
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		DDR
9 		CZE
- 		FIN
- 		ULS
- 		NAT
- 		YUG
- 		2 45th 0
500cc Linto ESP
RET 		GER
- 		FRA
RET 		IOM
- 		NED
11 		BEL
- 		DDR
RET 		CZE
- 		FIN
RET 		ULS
- 		NAT
RET 		YUG
5 		6 36th 0
1970 250cc Yamaha GER
- 		FRA
- 		YUG
- 		IOM
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		DDR
- 		CZE
- 		FIN
5 		ULS
- 		NAT
- 		ESP
- 		6 28th 0
500cc Linto GER
- 		FRA
RET 		YUG
- 		IOM
- 		NED
- 		BEL
- 		DDR
- 		FIN
RET 		ULS
RET 		NAT
- 		ESP
- 		0 - 0
1971 350cc Yamaha AUT
- 		GER
- 		IOM
- 		NED
- 		DDR
- 		CZE
- 		SWE
- 		FIN
- 		ULS
- 		NAT
8 		ESP
- 		3 40th 0
500cc Suzuki AUT
2 		GER
RET 		IOM
7 		NED
4 		BEL
RET 		DDR
2 		SWE
2 		FIN
4 		ULS
RET 		NAT
6 		ESP
5 		58 2nd 0
1972 500cc Suzuki GER
13 		FRA
RET 		AUT
- 		NAT
RET 		IOM
- 		YUG
RET 		NED
RET 		BEL
RET 		DDR
RET 		CZE
RET 		SWE
RET 		FIN
RET 		ESP
- 		0 67th 0

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Keith Turner career statistics at MotoGP.com". motogp.com. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Keith Turner - Hard Yards Racing in Europe". amcn.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Mettet Grand Prix results". racingmemo.free.fr. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Keith Turner career Isle of Man TT statistics". iomtt.com. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
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