Kel Carruthers

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Kel Carruthers
Kel Carruthers.jpg
Kel Carruthers, Mallory Park 1970
Nationality Australian

Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years 1966 - 1970
Teams Aermacchi, Benelli, Yamaha
Grands Prix 56
Championships 250cc - 1969
Wins 7
Podium finishes 22
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 8
First Grand Prix 1966 350cc Ulster Grand Prix
First win 1969 250cc Isle of Man TT
Last win 1970 250cc Ulster Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix 1970 250cc Spanish Grand Prix

Kelvin "Kel" Carruthers (born 3 January 1938 in Sydney) is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.[1] He went on to become a successful race team manager.

Carruthers was the son of a motorcycle shop owner and learned how to work on bikes from a young age.[2] By the early 1960s he had won the Australian 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc National Championships.[2] Afterwards, he moved to Europe with his family to compete in the Grand Prix World Championship series riding bikes for the Aermacchi factory.[2] In 1969, he was offered a ride with the Benelli factory and won the FIM 250cc road racing world championship after a tight points battle with Santiago Herrero and Kent Andersson.[1][2]

After the 1970 Grand Prix season, he accepted an offer from Yamaha to race in America.[2] Yamaha asked him to tutor a young American dirt track racer named Kenny Roberts.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2][3] With Carruthers tuning the bikes and offering guidance, Roberts went on to win three consecutive world championships. Carruthers also managed Eddie Lawson to a 500cc World Championship.

Carruthers went on to work for several Grand Prix teams through to the 1995 season. In 1996, he took a job with the Sea-Doo watercraft factory racing team, helping them win several national and world titles.[2] He returned to motorcycling in 1998 running a Yamaha satellite motocross team.[2]

In 1985, Carruthers was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.[4] He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results[1][5][edit | edit source]

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
1966 125cc Honda ESP
-
GER
-
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
8
ULS
8
IOM
12
NAT
7
JPN
-
0 - 0
350cc Norton GER
-
FRA
-
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
4
ULS
-
IOM
NC
NAT
-
JPN
-
3 18th 0
500cc Norton GER
-
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
IOM
11
NAT
-
0 - 0
1967 125cc Honda ESP
-
GER
-
FRA
-
IOM
5
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
5
ULS
4
NAT
7
CAN
-
JPN
-
7 8th 0
250cc Suzuki ESP
-
GER
-
FRA
-
IOM
12
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
CAN
-
JPN
-
0 - 0
350cc Aermacchi GER
5
IOM
10
NED
6
DDR
4
CZE
-
ULS
4
NAT
-
JPN
-
9 7th 0
500cc Norton GER
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
JPN
-
0 - 0
1968 125cc Honda GER
6
ESP
-
IOM
3
NED
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
6
NAT
-
6 10th 0
250cc Aermacchi GER
-
ESP
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
0 - 0
350cc Aermacchi GER
3
IOM
NC
NED
-
DDR
3
CZE
4
ULS
2
NAT
-
17 3rd 0
500cc Norton GER
-
ESP
-
IOM
6
NED
5
BEL
5
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
6
NAT
6
7 11th 0
1969 125cc Aermacchi ESP
6
GER
10
FRA
-
IOM
2
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
9
FIN
-
NAT
-
YUG
-
20 10th 0
250cc Benelli ESP
-
GER
-
FRA
-
IOM
1
NED
2
BEL
3
DDR
5
CZE
3
FIN
4
ULS
1
NAT
2
YUG
1
89 1st 3
350cc Aermacchi ESP
2
GER
6
IOM
NC
NED
7
DDR
7
CZE
7
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
YUG
-
29 7th 0
500cc Aermacchi ESP
-
GER
8
FRA
-
IOM
NC
NED
-
BEL
-
DDR
-
CZE
-
FIN
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
YUG
-
3 44th 0
1970 250cc Yamaha GER
1
FRA
-
YUG
-
IOM
1
NED
-
BEL
2
DDR
-
CZE
1
FIN
-
ULS
1
NAT
2
ESP
-
84 2nd 4
350cc Yamaha GER
2
YUG
2
IOM
NC
NED
4
DDR
3
CZE
4
FIN
4
ULS
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
28 2nd 0

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kel Carruthers career statistics at MotoGP.com
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kel Carruthers at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame" defined multiple times with different content
  3. American Motorcyclist, March 1979, Vol. 32, No. 2, ISSN 0277-9358
  4. Sport Australia Hall of Fame
  5. Kel Carruthers Isle of Man TT results at iomtt.com