Ken Kavanagh

Thomas Kenrick Kavanagh (12 December 1923 - 26 November 2019): Australian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing driver. In 1952 Kavanagh became the first Australian to win a motorcycle Grand Prix race when he won the 350cc Ulster Grand Prix. He was active in motorcycle Grand Prix racing from 1951 to 1960, winning five times, including the Junior TT class victory at the famous Isle of Man TT race. He was the first Australian to win a World Championship motorcycle GP, winning four 350cc GPs (Ulster 1952, Belgium 1954, Holland 1955, and the TT in 1956).

He also won the Ulster 500cc race in 1953. Ken Kavanagh was a very successful Norton and Moto-Guzzi motorcycle racer. Kavanagh spent three years racing a Norton and later raced for Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, and Ducati. Kavanagh's venture into Formula One was brief and unsuccessful. Maserati withdrew its works team from F1 at the end of 1957 and Kavanagh acquired one of its 250Fs with the intention of entering five or six GPs.

Kavanagh entered two Formula One Grands Prix in 1958 with his own Maserati 250F, firstly in Monaco where he failed to qualify, and lastly in the Belgian Grand Prix where he missed out on the race having blown his engine in practice after having qualified 20th of 28 entrants. He crashed the Maserati at Goodwood in the opening non-championship race of 1959 and was not seen in F1 again. A return to bikes that year proved disappointing and Kavanagh stopped racing in 1960. He settled in Bergamo in Northern Italy where he ran a dry-cleaning business.

Kavanagh died in Bergamo, Italy on 26 November 2019.