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Eric Bana proposes Mike Hailwood movie

Wednesday 26 February 2020
Entertainment
IOMTT
Mike Hailwood TT 1979

Australian film star and director Eric Bana is set to make a film about one of the TT's great heroes.

Murray Walker rated Mike Hailwood as the greatest TT racer of all-time. In fact, he called Mike "the greatest motorcycle racer who ever lived."

That's a statement likely to cause arguments amongst bike racing fans across the globe, but the argument would only be about a matter of degrees: his record speaks for itself. In an eleven-year career competing in the most dangerous era of grand prix motorcycle racing Mike took a total of nine world titles, on bikes ranging from 250cc to 500cc.

In that time he won twelve TT races, against opposition of the calibre of Giacomo Agostini, Gary Hocking, Phil Read and Bob McIntyre. 

When Honda withdrew from motorcycle racing to concentrate their efforts on Formula 1, they considered Hailwood so fundamental to the success they had enjoyed they paid him to not compete for any other manufacturer. 

However, the lure of the TT Course proved too much for Mike and 11 years after his retirement he returned to the Island. 

His victory in the 1978 Formula 1 TT is often cited as one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time, and the cheering crowds who came to see their hero in action were amongst the biggest the TT has ever seen.

Eric Bana - who starred in 2003's The Hulk - has visited the Isle of Man TT in 2016, has reportedly been talking to Mike's wife Pauline and son David about the project.

No timeline, budget or locations or storyline details has been reported for the film so far.



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