Photo: motorsportretro.com
In these days most motorsport movies are almost always about car culture. Le Mans '66 and Rush were great movies, but there aren't many films about how motorcycle racing was back in the days. Finally, we can see someone finally doing something about it, as Eric Bana along with Robert Connolly got the rights to make a film about Mike Hailwood's astonishing career.
Hailwood's family is delighted to hear that Eric Bana (the movie co-director and also the writer) will play Mike's role. David, Mike's son, said that “We are delighted that Mike will be depicted by Eric Bana, an actor with an immense passion and knowledge of motorsports, Mike’s career, and a rider himself,” said David Hailwood, Mike's son.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Eric Bana and Robert Connolly have taken Mike’s story to adapt into a feature film about his historic ‘comeback’ race win,” said Hailwood's widow.
The short story is that Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, or “Mike the Bike” as he was known, had the ability to ride hard any motorcycle he climbed on, regardless of the engine capacity. He was the first rider in history to win three races in one week in three different classes (125 cc, 250 cc, and 500 cc). In his career spanning from 1958 until 1967, he managed to seize 12 first places in the Isle of Man TT in several classes, and after this streak, he retired. In the year 1978 he came back after an 11 years pause, mostly as an “I want to feel how it is to race again” and he managed to steal first place in Formula 1 TT class, riding a Ducati NCR 900 SS.
Eric Bana stated that the movie will focus on this historical comeback. Although he hasn't writen anything since the '90s, he directed Love the Beast movie (which is a car documentary film), which makes him the right guy for the job.
The more you know: in 2001 and 2002, Ducati produced a commemorative limited edition motorcycle model to mark this historic moment.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Eric Bana and Robert Connolly have taken Mike’s story to adapt into a feature film about his historic ‘comeback’ race win,” said Hailwood's widow.
The short story is that Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, or “Mike the Bike” as he was known, had the ability to ride hard any motorcycle he climbed on, regardless of the engine capacity. He was the first rider in history to win three races in one week in three different classes (125 cc, 250 cc, and 500 cc). In his career spanning from 1958 until 1967, he managed to seize 12 first places in the Isle of Man TT in several classes, and after this streak, he retired. In the year 1978 he came back after an 11 years pause, mostly as an “I want to feel how it is to race again” and he managed to steal first place in Formula 1 TT class, riding a Ducati NCR 900 SS.
Eric Bana stated that the movie will focus on this historical comeback. Although he hasn't writen anything since the '90s, he directed Love the Beast movie (which is a car documentary film), which makes him the right guy for the job.
The more you know: in 2001 and 2002, Ducati produced a commemorative limited edition motorcycle model to mark this historic moment.
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