would be competitive at the TT races after such a long absence, but riding a Ducati 900SS provided by Manchester (UK) dealership Sports Motorcycles, he won the F1 race. Machines for other race categories were provided by Yamaha NV (Netherlands); Hailwood finished 12th in the 250 cc Junior event, 28th in the 500 cc Senior race being affected by a faulty steering damper, and a DNF in the Classic (1000 cc) race. Hailwood was awarded 'Man of the Year' for 1978 after a public vote organised by Motorcycle News weekly newspaper. After the June 1978 TT races, he again rode in Australia with Scaysbrook in the Castrol Six Hour event, followed by the 1979 Adelaide Three Hour race. Hailwood raced at the 1979 Isle of Man TT before retiring for good at the age of 39. In that final Isle of Man appearance, he rode a two-stroke Suzuki RG 500 to victory in the Senior TT. He then opted to use that same 500 cc bike in the Unlimited Classic and diced for the lead with Alex George (1100cc Honda) for all six laps. A minute or two apart on the road, they were rarely a few seconds apart on time each lap, Hailwood losing by two seconds. Death Following his retirement from motor sport, in late 1979 Hailwood established a Honda-based retail motorcycle dealership in Birmingham named Hailwood and Gould, in partnership with former motorcycle racer Rodney Gould. On Saturday 21 March 1981, Hailwood set off in his Rover SD1 with his children Michelle and David to collect some fish and chips. As they returned along the A435 Alcester Road through Portway, Warwickshire, near their home in Tanworth-in-Arden, a lorry made an illegal turn through the barriers onto the central reservation, and their car collided with it. Michelle, aged nine, was killed instantly. Mike and David were taken to hospital, where Mike died two days later from severe internal injuries. He was 40 years old. David survived with minor injuries. The lorry driver was fined £100. Hailwood claimed to have been told by a fortune teller in South Africa that he would not live to 40 and would be killed by a truck. The story was repeated by Elizabeth McCarthy in a 1981 memoir, while recounting her relationship with Hailwood, whom she had met at the Canadian Grand Prix in 1967. When he asked for her hand in marriage,