Eric Staines Oliver (13 April 1911 – 1 March 1980) was an English motorcycle racer best remembered as four-time Sidecar World Champion administered by the FIM, riding a Norton. His passenger in 1949 was Denis Jenkinson. He is also remembered for his innovation, being the first sidecar competitor to use a dustbin fairing, rear suspension and the first to adopt a semi-kneeling riding position.[2]
| Eric Oliver | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Oliver at the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's Founder's Day rally, race meeting and parade gathering, 27 April 1969 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 13 April 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 March 1980 (aged 68) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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He was also an accomplished solo racer and continued to ride a 350 Grand Prix bike while racing a sidecar.
Oliver made a surprising appearance in the 1958 Isle of Man Sidecar TT race on a standard Norton Dominator 88 with a Watsonian "Monaco" road sidecar with Mrs Pat Wise in the sidecar, finishing tenth ahead of many specialised race machines. Oliver's last TT appearance was in the 1960 with passenger Stan Dibben but they had a bad crash in practice with Oliver breaking his back in two places and Dibben was nearly decapitated. Both men decided to retire from racing after this.[1]
Oliver later switched to car racing with a Lotus Elan[3] and on 1 January 1955 opened a motorcycle dealership in Staines,[4] later selling Reliant cars.[5]
World Championship results
edit| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap. An empty black cell indicates that the class did not compete at that particular championship round.)
| Year | Class | Motorcycle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | IOM | SUI | NED | BEL | ULS | NAT | |||||||
| 500 cc | Norton | Ret | — | 0 | |||||||||
| 350 cc | Velocette | 21 | 7 | — | 0 | ||||||||
| Sidecar (with Denis Jenkinson) | Norton | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1st | 28 | |||||||
| 1950 | IOM | BEL | NED | SUI | ULS | NAT | |||||||
| 350 cc | Velocette | 14 | — | 0 | |||||||||
| Sidecar (with Lorenzo Dobelli) | Norton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 24 | |||||||
| 1951 | ESP | SUI | IOM | BEL | NED | FRA | ULS | NAT | |||||
| Sidecar (with Lorenzo Dobelli) | Norton | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1st | 30 (32) | |||||
| 1952 | SUI | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | ULS | NAT | ESP | |||||
| Sidecar (with Stanley Price) | Norton | 1 | 5th | 16 | |||||||||
| Sidecar (with Lorenzo Dobelli) | Norton | 1 | |||||||||||
| 1953 | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | FRA | ULS | SUI | NAT | ESP | ||||
| Sidecar (with Stanley Dibben) | Norton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 32 | ||||||
| 1954 | FRA | IOM | ULS | BEL | NED | GER | SUI | NAT | ESP | ||||
| Sidecar (with Les Nutt) | Norton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2nd | 26 | ||||||
| 1955 | ESP | FRA | IOM | GER | BEL | NED | ULS | NAT | |||||
| Sidecar (with Eric Bliss) | Norton | 3 | Ret | 13 | 10th | 4 | |||||||
| 1958 | IOM | NED | BEL | GER | SWE | ULS | NAT | ||||||
| Sidecar (with Pat Wise) | Norton | 10 | — | 0 | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Competitor Profile: Eric Oliver". www.iomtt.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "Eric Oliver". www.motopaedia.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ Jenkinson, Denis (May 1965). "Journey to Sicily". Motor Sport.
- ^ "News - Eric Oliver-Dealer". Motor Cycling. 91 (2345). London: Temple Press Ltd: 318. 6 January 1955.
- ^ "Eric Oliver Reliant Sales and Service, 93-101 London Road, Staines". Motor Cyclist Illustrated: 54. May 1968.