About Barry Sheene
Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1971 and 1984, most prominently as a member of the Suzuki factory racing team where he won two consecutive FIM World Championships in 1976 and 1977. Sheene remains the last British competitor to win the premier class of FIM road racing competitions. Sheene harnessed the power of mass media to transcend the sport and become the best-known face of British motorcycle racing during the 1970s. He was the first motorcycle racer to gain commercial endorsements from outside the sport, including television advertisements for Brut cologne. As well as being fluent in several languages, he had a cheeky, cockney persona that endeared him to thousands of race fans. Sheene was also a strong proponent of race track safety, and was one of the first competitors to object to racing at the notoriously dangerous Isle of Man TT street circuit. He recognized his value to race promoters as a gate attraction and used his influence to force race promoters to increase rider safety. After a racing career stretching from 1968 to 1984, Sheene retired from competition and relocated to Australia, working as a motorsport commentator and property developer. In 2011, the FIM inducted Sheene into the MotoGP Hall of Fame. Frank Sheene was one of the first proponents of the two-stroke engine that began to dominate the smaller engine classes of motorcycle racing in the mid-1960s.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.