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Kel Carruthers

Kel Carruthers
Kel Carruthers 1969 Yemen stamp.jpg
Kel Carruthers on a 1969 stamp
Nationality Australian
Born 3 January 1938 (1938-01-03) (age 79)
Sydney, Australia
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years 19661970
First race 1966 350cc Ulster Grand Prix
Last race 1970 250cc Spanish Grand Prix
First win 1969 250cc Isle of Man TT
Last win 1970 250cc Ulster Grand Prix
Team(s) Aermacchi, Benelli, Yamaha
Championships 250cc – 1969
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
56 7 22 0 8 302

Kelvin "Kel" Carruthers (born 3 January 1938) is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. After his motorcycle racing career, he went on to win world championships as a race team manager for riders Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson.

Carruthers, as the son of a motorcycle shop owner, learned how to work on bikes from a young age, started riding at 10, and entered his first race at 12. By the early 1960s he had won the Australian 125 cc, 250 cc, 350 cc and 500 cc National Championships.

In early 1966, he moved to Europe with his family to compete in British and International short-circuit races, including Grand Prix World Championship series riding a Drixton Aermacchi, and for early 1969 season riding bikes for the Aermacchi factory. Halfway through the 1969 season, he was offered a ride with the Benelli factory and won the Isle of Man 250 cc TT race. After the Isle of Man TT, Aermacchi released him from their contract to continue as a factory rider with Benelli and, he went on to win the 1969 250cc road racing world championship after a tight points battle with Santiago Herrero and Kent Andersson.

After the 1970 Grand Prix season, he accepted an offer from Yamaha to race in America. Yamaha asked him to tutor a young American dirt track racer named Kenny Roberts. In 1973, Carruthers became the manager of Yamaha's American racing team. Under Carruther's guidance, Roberts would win the 1973 and 1974 Grand National Championship for Yamaha. When it became apparent that Yamaha didn't have a bike able to compete with the dominant Harley Davidson dirt track team, they decided to send Carruthers and Roberts to Europe to compete in the road racing world championships. With Carruthers tuning the bikes and offering guidance, Roberts went on to win three consecutive world championships in 1978, 1979, and 1980. Carruthers also managed Eddie Lawson to a 500cc World Championship in 1984.


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