Kork Ballington’s biography, fact, career, awards, net worth and life story

Intro South African motorcycle racer
Is Motorcycle racer
From South Africa
Type

Sports

Gender male
Birth

10 April 1951, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia

Age 69 years
Star sign Aries

Hugh Neville “Kork” Ballington (born April 10, 1951) is a South African four-time Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world champion.

Motorcycle racing career

Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, Ballington used his domestic production racing experience as a springboard to gain entry into the British racing scene. He raced an over-the-counter Yamaha twin for several years before taking a well-earned place on the Kawasaki factory racing team riding Kawasaki KR250 and KR350s alongside Mick Grant and Barry Ditchburn. In the 250 and 350 classes, Ballington swept away the competition on his Kawasakis in 1978 and 1979, capturing consecutive double world championships.

In 1980, he campaigned Kawasaki’s new KR500 but developing a new bike proved to be difficult in the premier class. After three years in the 500cc class, he couldn’t repeat the success he enjoyed in the smaller classes and retired from competition. Ballington now lives with his family in Brisbane, Australia.

In 2018, MotoGP announced he would be inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results [1]

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
1976 250cc Yamaha FRA NAT YUG IOM NED BEL SWE FIN CZE GER ESP 15 13th 0
350cc Yamaha FRA NAT YUG IOM NED BEL SWE FIN CZE GER ESP 20 12th 1
1977 250cc Yamaha VEN GER NAT ESP FRA YUG NED BEL SWE FIN CZE GBR 49 6th 1
350cc Yamaha VEN AUT GER NAT ESP FRA NED SWE FIN CZE GBR 46 5th 2
1978 250cc Kawasaki VEN ESP FRA NAT NED BEL SWE FIN GBR GER CZE YUG 124 1st 4
350cc Kawasaki VEN AUT FRA NAT NED SWE FIN GBR GER CZE YUG 134 1st 6
1979 250cc Kawasaki VEN GER NAT ESP YUG NED BEL SWE FIN GBR CZE FRA 141 1st 7
350cc Kawasaki VEN AUT GER NAT ESP YUG NED FIN GBR CZE FRA 99 1st 5
1980 250cc Kawasaki NAT ESP FRA YUG NED BEL FIN GBR CZE GER 87 2nd 5
500cc Kawasaki NAT ESP FRA NED BEL FIN GBR GER 13 12th 0
1981 500cc Kawasaki AUT GER NAT FRA YUG NED BEL RSM GBR FIN SWE 43 8th 0
1982 500cc Kawasaki ARG AUT FRA ESP NAT NED BEL YUG GBR SWE RSM GER 31 9th 0

Preceded by
Mario Lega 		250cc Motorcycle World Champion
1978-1979 		Succeeded by
Anton Mang
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