Kork Ballington
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Nationality | South African | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hugh Neville "Kork" Ballington (born 10 April 1951) is a South African four-time Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world champion.[1]
Motorcycle racing career[]
Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, Ballington used his domestic production racing experience as a springboard to gain entry into the British racing scene.[2] He raced an over-the-counter Yamaha twin for several years before taking a well-earned place on the Kawasaki factory racing team riding Kawasaki KR250 and KR350s alongside Mick Grant and Barry Ditchburn.[2] In the 250 and 350 classes, Ballington swept away the competition on his Kawasakis in 1978 and 1979, capturing consecutive double world championships.[1]
In 1980, he campaigned Kawasaki's new KR500 but developing a new bike proved to be difficult in the premier class. After three years in the 500cc class, he couldn't repeat the success he enjoyed in the smaller classes and retired from competition. Ballington now lives with his family in Brisbane, Australia.
In 2018, MotoGP announced he would be inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame.[3]
Motorcycle Grand Prix results[1][]
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA - |
NAT Ret |
YUG - |
IOM - |
NED - |
BEL - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
CZE - |
GER 2 |
ESP 8 |
15 | 13th | 0 | ||
350cc | Yamaha | FRA - |
NAT 6 |
YUG - |
IOM - |
NED - |
BEL - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
CZE - |
GER 12 |
ESP 1 |
20 | 12th | 1 | |||
1977 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN 5 |
GER 6 |
NAT - |
ESP 11 |
FRA - |
YUG - |
NED - |
BEL 6 |
SWE - |
FIN 3 |
CZE 4 |
GBR 1 |
49 | 6th | 1 | |
350cc | Yamaha | VEN - |
AUT - |
GER - |
NAT - |
ESP - |
FRA - |
NED 1 |
SWE 2 |
FIN 13 |
CZE 7 |
GBR 1 |
46 | 5th | 2 | |||
1978 | 250cc | Kawasaki | VEN 5 |
ESP 4 |
FRA 3 |
NAT 1 |
NED 2 |
BEL 5 |
SWE 2 |
FIN 1 |
GBR - |
GER 1 |
CZE 1 |
YUG 3 |
124 | 1st | 4 | |
350cc | Kawasaki | VEN 4 |
AUT 1 |
FRA 2 |
NAT 1 |
NED 1 |
SWE 2 |
FIN 1 |
GBR 1 |
GER 2 |
CZE 1 |
YUG - |
134 | 1st | 6 | |||
1979 | 250cc | Kawasaki | VEN 2 |
GER 1 |
NAT 1 |
ESP 1 |
YUG 4 |
NED 3 |
BEL DNS |
SWE 5 |
FIN 1 |
GBR 1 |
CZE 1 |
FRA 1 |
141 | 1st | 7 | |
350cc | Kawasaki | VEN 4 |
AUT 1 |
GER 4 |
NAT - |
ESP 1 |
YUG 1 |
NED - |
FIN 9 |
GBR 1 |
CZE 1 |
FRA 5 |
99 | 1st | 5 | |||
1980 | 250cc | Kawasaki | NAT - |
ESP 1 |
FRA 1 |
YUG - |
NED - |
BEL - |
FIN 1 |
GBR 1 |
CZE 2 |
GER 1 |
87 | 2nd | 5 | |||
500cc | Kawasaki | NAT NC |
ESP 13 |
FRA 8 |
NED - |
BEL - |
FIN 5 |
GBR 7 |
GER 6 |
13 | 12th | 0 | ||||||
1981 | 500cc | Kawasaki | AUT 6 |
GER NC |
NAT - |
FRA 7 |
YUG - |
NED 3 |
BEL - |
RSM 5 |
GBR NC |
FIN 3 |
SWE 4 |
43 | 8th | 0 | ||
1982 | 500cc | Kawasaki | ARG 8 |
AUT NC |
FRA - |
ESP 9 |
NAT 6 |
NED 7 |
BEL 8 |
YUG 10 |
GBR 7 |
SWE 6 |
RSM 7 |
GER - |
31 | 9th | 0 |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Rider Statistics - Kork Ballington". MotoGP.com. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- ^ Kiko, Giles (20 February 2018). "Four-time champion Ballington to become MotoGP Legend". Motorsport Radio. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ Ballington, Kork. "Kork Ballington". Roy Hesketh Circuit Heritage. Nigel Owen.
- Zimbabwean people of British descent
- White Rhodesian people
- Zimbabwean emigrants to South Africa
- Zimbabwean emigrants to Australia
- Sportspeople from Harare
- Sportspeople from Pietermaritzburg
- South African motorcycle racers
- 250cc World Championship riders
- 350cc World Championship riders
- 500cc World Championship riders
- 1951 births
- Living people