My TT

As I approach Pauline Hailwood for an interview at the Grandstand this TT, I am pipped to the post by a gentleman who is shaking with excitement.

"I must shake your hand Mrs. Hailwood." he says. "You are the most important person on the Isle of Man today." Pauline Hailwood holds out her hand warmly.

Pauline Hailwood

"It's like that all the time" she laughs. "People remember Mike with such fondness. It's as though meeting and talking to me is a way for them to get close to him once again."

Earlier that day Pauline and her son Dave had been talking to a man with tears in his eyes as he remembered his racing hero.

"Sometimes I just want to hug these people. It's very moving."

It is with candour and love that Pauline answers my questions about her late husband.

"I thought he was the sexiest thing on legs!" she admits as her son Dave groans in mock embarrassment and walks away.

"Well you wouldn't be here if I hadn't felt like that!" she shouts after him.

"Life was always fun with Mike. He was a talented musician and the house was full of music all the time. Not many people know that in his spare time he played the clarinet and guitar. I just loved being with him. A lot of people did"

Mike Hailwood Getty Images

"There were always women phoning up and wanting to speak to him. One lady from France called so often we were forced to change our number. It's the price you pay for being married to a charismatic racing legend"

Pauline and Mike first met in the swinging 60s. They first spoke at a Snetterton meeting in 1960 when Pauline's friends dared her to ask him if they could borrow some of his spare plugs.

"He said I was very cheeky but he didn't refuse me! After that we always said hello or nodded our heads when we met but nothing else happened until 1962 when I saw him here at the Isle of Man TT."

"I walked past him in the pits and said the normal hello, then I walked off. I heard his footsteps behind me as he caught me up and he said 'Hello you old rat-bag, what are you doing tonight?"

Pauline and Mike went to the pictures that night in Douglas to see 'A Kind Of Loving with Julie Richie'. It was the beginning of a long and happy union.

Pauline and Dave at TT 2008

"He was my one BIG love. But I didn't let on at the time because I knew how many women were chasing after him. He never had to try, they just fell at his feet and he was a full-blooded male. What else can I say! But I wasn't going to be just another groupie. I didn't see Mike again for ages after that."

The next time the two met was at a party at Bill Ivy' house.

"One of Mike's many girl friends asked me to take her down to the party as a surprise for him! When we arrived it became clear that she wasn't the only woman hoping to get a look in."

Pauline remembers waiting outside one of the toilets for ages.
"I tried the door but it was locked and whoever was in there was taking ages and ages. The suddenly out comes this girl, closely followed by Mike. He asked for my phone number but I refused to give it to him. I told him he probably had enough going on without me adding to his confusion!"

But Mike got Pauline’s number from Bill Ivy and it wasn't long before they were an item.

The couple were married on June 11 1975 and had a son and a daughter.

On Saturday March 21 tragedy struck the family when Mike set off in his car with his children, Michelle and Dave, to pick up some fish and chips. 

On their return they were involved in an accident with a truck. 9 year-old Michelle was killed instantly while Mike and David were taken to hospital. David made a full recovery but Mike died 2 days later aged 40. 

“I feel very lucky to have had the time I did with Mike.” says Pauline, “When you are married to someone like that life is full of laughter, fun, mischievous pranks and good fun. He would be very touched to know people still hold him in such high regard both as a racer and as a man.”