Ray Amm

William Raymond Amm (10 December 1927 – 11 April 1955) was a Rhodesian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1951 to 1954. Amm was a six-time Grand Prix race winner including three victories at the Isle of Man TT when, he died in 1955 after an accident during a race in Italy.

Biography Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, Amm was a motorcycle dealer and managed a workshop in his hometown. He began racing when he was 17 years old. After the purchase of an AJS motorcycle shortly after the end of the Second World War, Amm started grasstrack racing near Salisbury and finished last in his first race. The next season the AJS motorcycle was replaced with a Triumph motorcycle. The purchase of a brand new Norton motorcycle allowed Amm to enter the prestigious 1949 Port Elizabeth 200 Motor-Cycle Race in South Africa and despite breaking the lap-record he finished in 17th place when the clutch started to slip. Again entering the 1950 Port Elizabeth 200, Amm finished in first place for the 500 cc race and set a new lap record of 95.86 mph. Another win followed in the 500 cc class for the 1951 Port Elizabeth 2000 Race despite suffering carburation problems. After these successes the Salisbury Motor-Cycle Club helped with his passage to compete in Europe.

Racing in Europe After ordering two Norton Manx motorcycles before leaving Rhodesia for the 1951 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Amm discovered on arriving in Europe that they would not be delivered until the start of practice for the 1951 Isle of Man TT Races. To practice on short circuits before the Manx Nortons where delivered, a 'hack' 7R AJS motorcycle was purchased and Ray Amm won the 350 cc class at a Peveril M.C. & L.C.C. meeting in the Isle of Man.

The two Manx Nortons arrived on the first day of practice for the 1951 Isle of Man TT Races. Despite trouble with a gear lever finished in ninth place for the 1951 Junior TT Race at an average race speed of 81.59 mph. After a 20-minute delay, Amm finished in 28th place for the 1951 Senior TT Race at an average race speed of 75.42 mph. For the 1952 Isle of Man TT Race, Amm crashed at Braddan Bridge on lap 3 of the Junior Race. This was followed by a third place in the 1952 Senior TT Race at an average race speed of 92.40 mph, a race that was won by Reg Armstrong for Norton.

Norton Team 1952-1954 For the 1952 Dutch TT, Amm was a full member of the Norton team and was second to Geoff Duke in the 350cc Dutch TT and retired from the 500 cc race. A fall at the 1953 French Grand Prix at Rouen in the 350cc class broke a collar-bone and brought about a premature end to championship ambitions for Amm for the 1953 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. However, Amm returned to the abortive Norton Kneeler project in November 1953 to set a number of world speed records at Montlhéry, France raising the hour speed endurance record to a distance of 133.70 miles. Also at Montlhéry in November 1953, Amm shared a streamlined Norton Sidecar outfit with Eric Oliver to set further speed records. On the second lap, Duke lapped in 26 minutes and 23 seconds at an average speed of 86.97 mph and Amm lapped at an average speed of 86.49 to reduce the lead to just 2 seconds. Further heavy rain and low cloud on the Mountain Section reduced speed further and on lap 2 and Amm used "feet-down" tactics on the slower corners. Then Duke decided to refuel on lap 3 and Amm in second place went straight through without stopping and now led Duke by 32 seconds.