Arthur Wheeler (motorcyclist)

Arthur Frederick Wheeler (5 August 1916 – 16 June 2001^[1]) was an English professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.^[2] Wheeler gained a reputation as one of the top privateer racers on the Grand Prix circuit.^[1]

Arthur Wheeler
Nationality	British
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1949 – 1962 First race 1949 Isle of Man 350 cc Junior TT Last race 1962 250 cc Argentine Grand Prix First win 1954 250 cc Nations Grand Prix Last win 1962 250 cc Argentine Grand Prix Team(s) Moto Guzzi Championships 0 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 27 2 4 0 2 68

Early life

Born in Epsom, Surrey, Wheeler left school at the age of 15 to be an apprentice electrician and engineer.^[1] He began his competitive motorcycling career campaigning a Velocette in grass track racing.^[1] Opening a motorcycle shop in 1937, he used his profits to enable his motorcycle racing career.^[1] When World War II started, Wheeler's engineering skills led him to being chosen to work alongside Barnes Wallis in developing the bouncing bomb.^[1]

Motorcycle racing career

After the war, his motorcycle business boomed, allowing him to enter Grands Prix racing on the circuits of Continental Europe.^[1] Wheeler won the 1954 250 cc Nations Grand Prix at Monza after the dominant NSU factory racing team withdrew from the race.^[3] He was a five-time winner of the North West 200 race in Northern Ireland and won the Leinster 200 at least twice.^[3][4] His best season was aboard a Moto Guzzi in 1962, when he won the 250 cc Argentine Grand Prix and had a fourth-place finish in the Isle of Man Lightweight TT, finishing in third place in the 250 cc world championship behind Jim Redman and Bob McIntyre.^[2] At the end of that year he retired at the age of 46.^[1] His victory in Argentina made him the oldest rider to have won a Grand Prix motorcycle race in any class, a record that stands to this day.

Wheeler continued to develop the long-outdated Moto Guzzi (which ceased production around 1953) all through his career, using home built streamlined 'dustbin' and 'dolphin' fairings and along with Ken Sprayson at Reynolds tubing (Reynolds Tubes Co Ltd^[5]) he developed a spine frame with swinging arm rear suspension and oil bearing top tube.^[3][5] Wheeler was a close friend with many of the Guzzi factory riders, and it was through Fergus Anderson that he acquired his first Guzzi from the factory, a pre-war Albatross 250 cc, which was to be developed through the 1950s to Gambalunghino spec and beyond.^[3] After his win at the Nations Grand Prix it was Moto Guzzi factory rider Enrico Lorenzetti who gave Wheeler his stock of factory spare parts, enabling him to campaign the Guzzis long after the official factory team had disbanded.^{[3][note 1]}

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1950 to 1968:

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

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Points	Rank	Wins
1949	350cc	Velocette	IOM 20	SUI -	NED -	BEL -	ULS 10							0	–	0
	500cc	Triumph	IOM NC	SUI -	NED -	BEL -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
1950	350cc	Velocette	IOM 12	BEL 16	NED -	SUI -	ULS 10	NAT -						0	–	0
	500cc	Norton	IOM 26	BEL -	NED -	SUI -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
1951	250cc	Velocette		SUI -	IOM 5			FRA -	ULS 3	NAT -				6	7th	0
	350cc	Velocette	ESP -	SUI -	IOM 47	BEL -	NED -	FRA -	ULS -	NAT -				0	–	0
	500cc	BSA	ESP -	SUI -	IOM NC	BEL -	NED -	FRA -	ULS -	NAT -				0	–	0
1952	250cc	Moto Guzzi	SUI -	IOM 9	NED 4		GER 6	ULS -	NAT -					4	12th	0
	350cc	Velocette	SUI -	IOM NC	NED 12	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	NAT -					0	–	0
	500cc	Norton	SUI -	IOM 21	NED -	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	NAT -	ESP -				0	–	0
1953	250cc	Moto Guzzi	IOM 4	NED -		GER -		ULS 6	SUI -	NAT -	ESP -			4	10th	0
	350cc	AJS	IOM 19	NED -	BEL -		FRA -	ULS -	SUI -	NAT -	ESP -			0	–	0
	500cc	Matchless	IOM NC	NED -	BEL -	GER -	FRA -	ULS -	SUI -	NAT -	ESP -			0	–	0
1954	250cc	Moto Guzzi	FRA -	IOM 7	ULS 4		NED 6	GER 4	SUI -	NAT 1				15	4th	1
	350cc	AJS	FRA -	IOM 10	ULS -	BEL -	NED -	GER -	SUI -	NAT -	ESP -			0	–	0
	500cc	AJS	FRA -	IOM 28	ULS -	BEL -	NED -	GER -	SUI -	NAT -	ESP -			0	–	0
1955	250cc	Moto Guzzi			IOM 4	GER 5		NED 6	ULS 7	NAT 10				6	11th	0
	350cc	AJS		FRA -	IOM 12	GER 16	BEL 14	NED -	ULS 14	NAT 9				0	–	0
	500cc	Matchless	ESP -	FRA -	IOM 17	GER -	BEL 15	NED -	ULS -	NAT -				0	–	0
1956	125cc	MV Agusta	IOM NC	NED -	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
	250cc	Moto Guzzi	IOM 6	NED -	BEL -	GER -	ULS 3	NAT -						5	9th	0
	350cc	Moto Guzzi	IOM 18	NED -	BEL 11	GER -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
1957	125cc	MV Agusta	GER -	IOM NC	NED -	BEL -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
	250cc	Moto Guzzi	GER -	IOM 8	NED 6	BEL 4	ULS -	NAT -						4	13th	0
	350cc	Moto Guzzi	GER -	IOM 19	NED -	BEL -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
	500cc	Moto Guzzi	GER -	IOM 23	NED -	BEL -	ULS -	NAT -						0	–	0
1958	125cc	Mondial	IOM 9	NED -	BEL -	GER -	SWE -	ULS 6	NAT -					1	13th	0
	250cc	Mondial	IOM NC	NED 5	BEL -	GER -	SWE -	ULS -	NAT -					2	16th	0
	350cc	AJS	IOM NC	NED -	BEL -	GER -	SWE -	ULS -	NAT -					0	–	0
	500cc	AJS	IOM 35	NED -	BEL -	GER -	SWE -	ULS -	NAT -					0	–	0
1959	125cc	NSU		IOM 7										1	14th	0
		Ducati			GER -	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	ULS 6	NAT -
	350cc	AJS	FRA -	IOM 21	GER -		BEL -	SWE -	ULS -	NAT -				0	–	0
	500cc	AJS	FRA -	IOM NC	GER -	NED -	BEL -		ULS -	NAT -				0	–	0
1961	125cc	Ducati	ESP -	GER -	FRA -	IOM 13	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	ULS -	NAT -	SWE -	ARG -	0	–	0
	250cc	Moto Guzzi	ESP -	GER -	FRA -	IOM 7	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	ULS -	NAT -	SWE -	ARG -	0	–	0
	350cc	Moto Guzzi		GER -		IOM 39	NED -		DDR -	ULS -	NAT -	SWE -		0	–	0
	500cc	Matchless		GER -	FRA -	IOM 27	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	ULS -	NAT -	SWE -	ARG -	0	–	0
1962	250cc	Moto Guzzi	ESP -	FRA -	IOM 4	NED 6	BEL 5	GER 5	ULS 4	DDR -	NAT -		ARG 1	19	3rd	1
	350cc	Moto Guzzi			IOM 23	NED -			ULS -	DDR -	NAT 6	FIN -		1	17th	0
	500cc	Moto Guzzi			IOM NC	NED -	BEL -		ULS -	DDR -	NAT -	FIN -	ARG -	0	–	0

^[2][6]

Notes

1. Motor Cyclist Illustrated, May 1968, p.54 Arthur Wheeler Ltd for all models BSA 45–47–51 Waterloo Road, Epsom. Accessed 6 April 2014

References

1. Arthur Wheeler obituary at The Telegraph.com
2. Arthur Wheeler career statistics at MotoGP.com
3. Robinson, James (September–October 2001). "Arthur Frederick Wheeler (1916–2001)". Classic Racer (91): 32–33. ISSN 1470-4463.
4. "1950s North West 200 results". northwest200.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
5. Motorcycle Sport, August 1969, p.314 Frames Unlimited. Part 2 of the Reynolds story (with particular reference to Ken Sprayson) Accessed 17 May 2014
6. Arthur Wheeler Isle of Man TT results at iomtt.com