By then riding as a privateer, Phil Read MBE at Waterworks on his way to winning the 1972 Lightweight 250cc race
(Photo: Peter Corlett)

Now aged 81, the former factory Yamaha and MV star, John Player Norton and later Honda Britain rider is reported to have made a full recovery from the Covid-19 virus.

Read suffers with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the type of illness that makes coronavirus such a dangerous illness.

He has now been released from Canterbury Hospital, and is reported to be in good health although still needing oxygen. There are unconfirmed reports that he was treated with anti-malarial drugs while in hospital.

Read is quoted on the Visor Down website as follows:

’I just got out of Canterbury NHS hospital and got rid of this unspeakable virus! But, I still need oxygen for my lungs because I have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). But I know from experience what will help me in this regard’.

He made his Mountain Course debut in the 1958 Manx Grand Prix and made the transition to the TT after winning the Senior Manx in 1960.

Read won the Junior race in his TT debut eight months later, again on a Manx Norton. He was third in the 1963 Senior TT on a six-year-old Gilera-4, under Geoff Duke’s Scuderia team banner, alongside John Hartle (who was runner-up to Mike Hailwood’s factory MV).

He was more closely associated with Yamaha at GP level in the TT, winning the 1965, 1967 and 1968 125cc races, followed by further wins in the 1971 and 1972 250cc Lightweight events.

An often controversial character, he had a brief falling out with the TT in the mid-1970s, but made a return to win the inaugural Formula One TT on a Honda in 1977, taking his only Senior TT title a few days later on a 500cc Suzuki.

His TT swansong came in 1982, following another four-year absence, when he finished fourth in the Senior behind Norman Brown, Jon Ekerold and Dennis Ireland.

Read’s final race on the Mountain Course came in the 1998 Classic Manx Grand Prix when he finished 18th in the 500cc race on a G50 Matchless at an average speed of 94.08mph (only fractionally slower than his 1960 MGP winning average). He was by then aged 59.

Read won the 500cc world title back-to-back in 1973 and 1974 for MV Agusta and is the oldest surviving 500cc/MotoGP world champion.

He was the first rider to win 125cc, 250cc and 500cc world championship titles.