Hizzy: The Autobiography of Steve Hislop

by Steve Hislop, Stuart Barker

Steve Hislop is one of the most famous motorcycle racers in the world. He has always been outspoken and controversial, having had many famous clashes and splits with teams and riders over the years, not always to his advantage. Here he gets his chance to tell his story. Hislop made his debut in 1979 on a bike paid for by his father, but when the latter died of a heart-attack, he embarked on a self-destructive quest that resulted in more crashed bikes and cars than he can remember. Three years later his brother Garry was killed racing at Silloth. It looked as if he would never race again but while on holiday at the Isle of Man TT races in 1983, he was mesmerised by the sight of Joey Dunlop and he knew he had to try it. He took to the roads immediately, amassing an amazing career record of 11 wins and was the first rider in history to lap the course at an average speed of over 120mph. Hizzy's TT victories over big name rivals like Joey Dunlop and Carl Fogarty made him a living legend the world over. He turned his back on the Isle of Man in 1994, claiming it was too fast and dangerous for modern superbikes. However, he had already proved he was just as fast on purpose-built short circuits having won the British 250cc championship in 1990 and then went on to win the British superbike title in 1995.

Genres: Biography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2003

Reviews

[phil mcveigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember skipping College lectures, one Wednesday afternoon, when I heard that the Virgin Yamaha team were (randomly) spending the afternoon at Virgin Recordstore in Grimsby.

I got there and there was Steve Hislop and his team mate (I think his name was Paul Brown)....still have both their autographs. The store was pretty empty and they must have been waiting for me to leave but all I wanted to do was talk to Hizzy and, fair play to him, he spent the best part of 20mins with me and I will never forget it.

I was on holiday when my Sister sent me a text to say that Hizzy had been killed in a helicopter crash. The man I once saw break the lap record at Cadwell Park (5 times in one race) had gone but the memories I have of him will always be there (I hope!!)

[Stewart Jarvis-Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a signed copy of this book. Steve was visiting my local Yamaha dealer and I jumped at the opportunity to meet him. I remember him being friendly and he chatted with every one for quite a while. He came across as a nice normal person and not the troubled soul he was accused by many of being.

I read this book as soon as I got home back in 2003 and remember liking it. It must have been only a matter of weeks before his untimely death :(

Fast forward over 20 years and here I am reading it for the second time. I can understand why he was thought of as a troubled soul, flawed genius, or just someone that was difficult to deal with. In this book he admits multiple times to being moody or has mood swings. Riders then and now don't struggle to get paid or get sacked multiple times for no reason.

He was a very fast rider and a good racer on his good days. What he did on the Norton at the TT against Fogarty and the laps he put in at Donington on the Monster Mob Ducati to beat the GP lap record on a BSB bike were the moments of genius referred to in the genius part of the flawed genius moniker. However, the opposite side of that you have the times on the ex World Superbike Kawasaki's where he just couldn't sort them out and his results suffered and the hit and miss performances on the Virgin Yamaha R7's.

This book details his career pretty well and you get a peak in to the complex character but I just got the feeling all the way through Steve wasn't being entirely honest and brushing over a lot of his behaviour (if that is the right term for what I am thinking). Steve bemoans his bad luck but in this kind of profession I believe that most riders make the beds they have to lie in and a lot of decisions Steve made and the way he went about them I think determined what happened to him not luck. There probably was an element of bad luck in there on occasions like his crash at Rockingham that robbed him of a title but I'm struggling to believe in the Hislop jinx as he calls it.

It is saddening to read him speculating on what he was going to do after racing and saying he will retire after the next years championship. He even talks with pride about his new hobby flying helicopters and how he'd passed his test on the anniversary of 9/11. A hobby that would kill him 10 months later. He worried about how he would survive financially after racing all the way through the book and he sadly didn't need to.

This is a fascinating read and I enjoyed it but I would have liked a more candid version of his life story more. Stuart Barker does his usual trick of putting a massive spoiler in the first chapter which I didn't like but his over exaggeration style of writing was less evident here. A solid 3/5.

[Dmitri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Steve was a true gentleman and a "flawed genius". Gone too soon