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Eric Oliver

Eric Oliver
Eric Oliver.JPG
Oliver at the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's Founder's Day rally, race meeting and parade gathering, 27 April 1969
Nationality British
Born (1911-04-13)13 April 1911
Died 1 March 1980(1980-03-01) (aged 68)
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years 1949 - 1960
First race 1949 Isle of Man TT
Last race 1960 Isle of Man TT
First win 1949 Swiss Grand Prix
Last win 1954 Belgian Grand Prix
Team(s) Norton, Velocette
Championships 4 (1949, 1950, 1951, 1953)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
17 19 160 (162)
Isle of Man TT career
TTs contested 14 (1937 - 1960)
TT wins 1
First TT win 1954 Sidecar TT
Last TT win 1954 Sidecar TT
Podiums 1

Eric Staines Oliver (13 April 1911 – 1 March 1980) was an English motorcycle racer best remembered as four time Sidecar World Champion, riding a Norton. His passenger in 1949 was Denis Jenkinson. He is also remembered for his innovation, being the first sidecar competitor to use a dustbin fairing, rear suspension and the first to adopt the kneeling riding position.

He was also an accomplished solo racer and continued to ride a 350 Grand Prix bike while racing a sidecar.

Oliver made a surprising appearance in the 1958 Isle of Man Sidecar TT race on a standard Norton Dominator 88 with a Watsonian "Monaco" road sidecar with Mrs Pat Wise in the sidecar, finishing tenth ahead of many specialised race machines. Oliver's last TT appearance was in the 1960 with passenger Stan Dibben but they had a bad crash in practice with Oliver breaking his back in two places and Dibben was nearly decapitated. Both men decided to retire from racing after this.

Oliver later switched to car racing with a Lotus Elan and ran a Reliant dealership in Staines.

() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)


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