Rodney Gould (10 March 1943 – 16 April 2024) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and UK short circuit specialist.
| Rodney Gould | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gould on a 250 Bultaco 33 close behind Phil Read 61 following Mike Hailwood 35, around 1967 at Cadwell Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 March 1943 Banbury, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 16 April 2024 (aged 81) Cheltenham, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gould began racing in 1961 and made his first Isle of Man TT appearance in 1967. He rode a variety of machines including Manx Nortons and two-stroke Bultacos for the smaller classes, and was supported by UK Aermacchi concessionaire Syd Lawton from 1966,[1] before turning to Yamaha TD2s and TR2s.
Gould won the 1970 FIM 250cc world championship on a Yamaha.[2] After finishing third in the 250 class and fourth in the 500 class in 1972, Gould retired from competition and took a position as Yamaha's European racing manager.[3]
In 1979 Gould established a retail motorcycle dealership in Birmingham named Hailwood and Gould, in partnership with famous former-racer Mike Hailwood, who was subsequently killed in a road traffic accident in 1981. In 1984, Gould was briefly Sales Manager for the second incarnation of Hesketh Motorcycles based at Lord Hesketh's Easton Neston stately home.
Gould died at his home in Cheltenham on 16 April 2024, at the age of 81.[4]
Points system from 1950 to 1968:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1969 onwards:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 350cc | AJS | GER - | IOM NC | NED - | DDR - | CZE - | ULS - | NAT - | JPN - | 0 | – | 0 | |||||
| 500cc | Norton | GER - | IOM NC | NED - | BEL - | DDR 5 | CZE - | FIN - | ULS - | NAT - | CAN - | 2 | 19th | 0 | ||||
| 1968 | 250cc | Yamaha | GER 4 | ESP - | IOM 5 | NED 5 | DDR 4 | CZE 4 | FIN 3 | ULS 3 | NAT - | 21 | 4th | 0 | ||||
| Kawasaki | BEL 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 500cc | Norton | GER 6 | ESP - | IOM NC | NED - | BEL - | DDR - | CZE - | FIN - | ULS - | NAT - | 1 | 24th | 0 | ||||
| 1969 | 250cc | Yamaha | ESP - | GER - | FRA 2 | IOM NC | NED 4 | BEL 2 | DDR - | CZE 2 | FIN - | ULS - | NAT - | YUG - | 44 | 6th | 0 | |
| 350cc | Yamaha | ESP - | GER - | IOM NC | NED - | DDR 2 | CZE 2 | FIN 2 | ULS - | NAT - | YUG - | 36 | 5th | 0 | ||||
| 1970 | 250cc | Yamaha | GER - | FRA 1 | YUG 3 | IOM 2 | NED 1 | BEL 1 | DDR 1 | CZE - | FIN 1 | ULS 2 | NAT 1 | ESP - | 102 | 1st | 6 | |
| 350cc | Yamaha | GER - | YUG 5 | IOM NC | NED - | DDR - | CZE - | FIN 3 | ULS - | NAT - | ESP 2 | 28 | 6th | 0 | ||||
| 1971 | 125cc | Yamaha | AUT - | GER - | IOM - | NED - | BEL 7 | DDR - | CZE - | SWE - | FIN - | NAT - | ESP - | 4 | 24th | 0 | ||
| 250cc | Yamaha | AUT - | GER - | IOM 4 | NED - | BEL 6 | DDR 2 | CZE - | SWE 1 | FIN 1 | ULS 6 | NAT 4 | ESP - | 68 | 2nd | 2 | ||
| 350cc | Yamaha | AUT - | GER - | IOM NC | NED 4 | DDR - | CZE - | SWE 4 | FIN - | ULS - | NAT - | ESP - | 16 | 13th | 0 | |||
| 1972 | 250cc | Yamaha | GER 6 | FRA - | AUT - | NAT 2 | IOM 2 | YUG 2 | NED 1 | BEL 2 | DDR 3 | CZE 4 | SWE 1 | FIN - | ESP - | 88 | 3rd | 2 |
| 350cc | Yamaha | GER - | FRA - | AUT - | NAT 6 | IOM NC | YUG - | NED - | DDR - | CZE - | SWE - | FIN - | ESP - | 6 | 25th | 0 | ||
| 500cc | Yamaha | GER - | FRA - | AUT - | NAT - | IOM - | YUG - | NED - | BEL 3 | DDR 2 | CZE 4 | SWE 2 | FIN 3 | ESP - | 52 | 4th | 0 |