Ray Amm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Rhodesian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia |
10 December 1927||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 11 April 1955 Imola, Italy |
(aged 27)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Raymond Amm (10 December 1927 – 11 April 1955) was a Rhodesian professional motorcycle racer known for two motorcycle Grand Prix wins and three wins at the Isle of Man TT Races in his career. After signing for the 1955 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season to ride for MV Agusta, Amm was killed in his first race for MV Agusta in Italy in 1955.
Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, Amm was a motorcycle dealer and managed a workshop in his hometown. He began racing when he was 17 years old. After the purchase of an AJS motorcycle shortly after the end of the Second World War, Amm started grasstrack racing near Salisbury and finished last in his first race. The next season the AJS motorcycle was replaced with a Triumph motorcycle. The purchase of a brand new Norton motorcycle allowed Amm to enter the prestigious 1949 Port Elizabeth 200 Motor-Cycle Race in South Africa and despite breaking the lap-record he finished in 17th place when the clutch started to slip. Again entering the 1950 Port Elizabeth 200, Amm finished in 1st place for the 500 cc race and set a new lap record of 95.86 mph. Another win followed in the 500 cc class for the 1951 Port Elizabeth 2000 Race despite suffering carburation problems. After these successes the Salisbury Motor-Cycle Club helped with his passage to compete in Europe.
After ordering two Norton Manx motorcycles before leaving Rhodesia for the 1951 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Amm discovered on arriving in Europe that they would not be delivered until the start of practice for the 1951 Isle of Man TT Races. To practice on short circuits before the Manx Nortons where delivered, a 'hack' 7R AJS motorcycle was purchased and Ray Amm won the 350 cc class at a Peveril M.C. & L.C.C. meeting in the Isle of Man.