Peter Williams

Peter Williams (27 August 1939 – 20 December 2020) was a British former professional motorcycle racer and engineer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle road racing from to as well as in British short-circuit races. The son of Jack Williams who led the Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) racing department, Williams encompassed a rare combination of talents as a proficient motorcycle racer as well as an innovative motorcycle designer. Trained in mechanical engineering, Williams was modest and soft-spoken with a studious appearance that was the antithesis of a stereotypical motorcycle racer.

The highpoint of Williams' career came in 1973 when he won the Isle of Man Formula 750 TT race riding a motorcycle of his own design. His father was involved in the development of the World Championship winning AJS Porcupine and then the AJS 7R and Matchless G50. He was easily recognized by the large letter W painted on the front of his helmet, a logo that he used for his entire racing career. In the 250 cc Class, he scored a third place finish on a Greeves Silverstone. His performance earned him a job offer to join the Greeves factory as draughtsman where he helped develop a water-cooled 250 cc Greeves road racer. In the 1965 Lightweight TT, he scored a third place result riding an Orpin Greeves Silverstone. He scored the first podium result of his career when he rode a Tom Arter prepared Matchless G50 to finish in second place behind Agostini at the 500 cc Nations Grand Prix held at the Monza Circuit.

In early 1967, Williams marketed an engineering solution to enable a proprietary disc brake assembly produced and merchandised by Rickman Motorcycles to be fitted to Norton Manx and AJS 7R/Matchless G50 racing machines. Also in 1967, Williams and Arter began work on a motorcycle to replace their Matchless G50 using a prototype, twin-cylinder 500 cc Weslake engine, however the project was abandoned due to financial constraints.

For the Grand Prix season, Williams and Arter decided to campaign their single-cylinder Matchless G50 in a full season of World Championship competition against the MV Agusta and Honda factory teams and their powerful multi-cylinder machines. The new rules favored two-stroke engines over four-stroke engines in the smaller displacement classes, and since the Honda factory had a company policy to race only four-stroke motorcycles, they decided to withdraw from motorcycle racing to concentrate on Formula 1 racing. He placed fourth at the 1968 Dutch TT along with a fifth place in Czechoslovakia to end the season ranked sixth in the 1968 500 cc World Championship standings. He suffered from chronic asthma which forced him to miss the 1969 Isle of Man TT, but returned to competition at the Dutch TT where he led the first two laps on the single-cylinder Matchless before Agostini and the MV Agusta 500 Three caught and passed him to take the lead and eventual victory with Williams finishing in second place. The lightweight chassis also benefitted from a slim, wind-cheating bodywork and was one of the first racing motorcycles to feature hydraulic disc brakes. The motorcycle was dubbed "cart wheels"

Williams and Arter developed and modified the Matchless G50 into a proficient racing machine that extended the competitive life of the four-stroke single-cylinder engine during an era dominated by two-stroke engines. By 1969, the era of domination by British single-cylinder engines was over; however, their use of lightweight material and aerodynamics allowed the underpowered yet agile Matchless G50 compete with Agostini's more powerful MV Agusta. Williams and the Arter-Matchless won the 1970 British 500cc Championship after a season-long battle with Alan Barnett riding a Colin Seeley-prepared Matchless G50. The machine was designed as an integrated package with a Peel-type fairing incorporating handlebar blisters which helped to reduce the drag coefficient to 0.39.

Williams was the standout performer for the British team at the 1973 Transatlantic Trophy match races aboard the John Player Norton. The Transatlantic Trophy match races pitted the best British riders against the top North American road racers on 750cc motorcycles in a six-race series in England. Williams ended the series as the top individual points leader with three victories along with a second place and third place results. Three laps from the end, Duhamel's motorcycle developed a stiff throttle, allowing Williams to take the victory. DuHamel came back to win the second race over second-placed Williams.

The result marked the fourth time that he had finished the Senior TT in second place aboard the antiquated Matchless G50 (1967, 1970, 1971, 1973). His single-cylinder TT lap record would stand until 1997, when it was broken by Dave Morris riding a BMW F650.

At the British round of the 1973 Formula 750 season held at the fast and flowing Silverstone Circuit, Williams demonstrated the prowess of his designing skills as he led the race on the John Player Norton against the far more powerful Japanese two-stroke motorcycles, only to run out of petrol one lap from the end of the race. The accident left him without the use of his left arm. He was employed by Cosworth Engineering in the development of fuel-injected liquid-cooled twin-cylinder motor for the Norton Challenge P86. Only four of the replicas were built at a cost of £65,000 each, before Williams became ill and the project foundered.

Williams died in his sleep on Sunday, 20 December 2020 at the age of 81 after a long illness.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)