Robert Steven Hislop, the current British Superbike champion and one of the fastest motorbike racers of all time, died on July 30 in a helicopter accident. He was 41. Hislop was training to be a commercial helicopter pilot when his aircraft crashed in Scotland. No one else was on board.
Hislop, a.k.a. “The Flying Haggis,” was always fascinated by motorcycles. As a child, he and his brother Garry were given a Honda ST50, a bike they rode at every spare moment. Garry died in a motorbike race when he was 19.
Despite this loss, Hislop dedicated his life to the machines, first as an apprentice mechanic, then as a motorbike racer. In 1983, Hislop placed second in the Manx GP Newcomers 350cc, and 11th in the 250cc event. Two years later, he entered the Isle of Man TT, and rode in the F1, Classic and 750 production classes. He won the F2 race in 1987, and was sponsored by Honda for the 1989 season.
Hislop won the F1, Senior and 600cc races and set the record for riding a 120 mph lap during a single week of competition. He repeated the feat two years later when he set an unofficial track record of 125.36 mph.
While he won the Championship in 1995 and again last year, Hislop’s riding career also experienced some speed bumps. He lost sponsorships with Ducati and Yamaha due to injuries and breach of contract. After placing third in the BSB Championships, Kawasaki fired him too.
Then in 2000, Hislop was involved in a horrifying crash at the Brands Hatch World Superbike race. He took the Paddock Hill bend at about 120 mph and lost control. The motorcycle hit him in the head twice, and he cartwheeled four times in mid-air. The next day, Hislop signed himself out of hospital only to find out weeks later that he had broken his neck in the accident.
Hislop eventually won three British Championships and 11 races at the Isle of Man TT. He published his autobiography, “Hizzy,” earlier this year.
• Complete Coverage From The Scotsman
August 14, 2003 by
Steve Hislop
Categories: Sports
Goodbye Hizzy Greatest Rider of ALL TIME!!
Well Remember You Forever!!
Ride Free!!
HIZZY YOU WERE THE BEST NO ONE CAN BE LIKE U !
THE KING OF THE TRACK!
hizzy was the king he will be sadly mist!!!number 1
Gone but never forgot Genius on a bike
BSB is boring without you. I’ll dedicate my first race of the year to you.
Forever you are the best…well remember you.
Thanks for all.
well done on your successes and the broken neck recovery, well miss you
A technical genius. A hard and fast rider. Today…..when i set up a motorcycle, i still use “Hizzy Settings”. That way…..i nearly always have a great race!. You are sadly missed Steve. Years later…You are NOT forgotten.
You are sadly missed with 11 TT wins im sure that you are flying high in heaven rest in peace x
Hizzy u will never be forgotten, you would still be top, ret in peace matey 😀 we still miss u :.(
what a true racer, still miss seeing him race. tragic loss to racing and life its self. many good racers will come and go but none will be hizzy.
simple the greatest faster rider i have ever seen and the reason i got into bikes
never forgotten
A true great and sadly missed. Hizzy was the same age as my late aunt, who sadly died the following year, and its just recently I learned that they in fact were in the same year at the same primary school. A true Borders Man and is never forgotten
we’ll all miss hizzy and evn though now hes gone all of britain will still remember him, no1 will ever race lyk hizzy a graet loss to us all
been to 2006 gp.still see riders who idolised HIZZY trying to be as good him ……always be in our thoughts .THE BEST EVER
HIZZY WERE ALL GONNA MISS YA!! KING OV THE TRACK NEVER GONNA 4GET YA XX
NEVER TOO LATE TO SAY..MISS YA HIZZY
RIDE FREE..NEVER FORGOTTEN XXXX
I Remember You Forever.
I met steve at nockhill the year he died. I stood beside him and i didnt no what to say. just standing beside steve was fantastic. he gave my son a signed piture that we will keep for ever.Its heartbreaking to look back at the loss of a scottish hero as hizzie was.R.I.P.
my freind.
my hero. x x x
he was a legend never to be forgotten he was the best tt rider and best shortcircuit rider too