Tommy Robb (motorcyclist)

Tommy Robb (14 October 1934 – 12 December 2024) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Northern Ireland.

He then competed on Irish grasstracks, winning six national titles and a 25-mile sand race between 1954 and 1956, before turning to short circuits on tarmac and road-racing.

He was noticed by Belfast sponsor Terry Hill, himself a trials rider, who provided a 173 MV and a 250 cc NSU Sportmax for 1957 and 1958 with Robb finishing third in the 1957 Ulster Grand Prix and second in the 1958 race.

[1][2] Robb was then sponsored by tuners Geoff Monty and his business partner Allen Dudley-Ward until joining the works Honda team from 1962,[1] winning his first world championship race in the 1962 250 class at the Ulster Grand Prix with two further wins at the inaugural Japanese Grand Prix in Tokyo.

Towards the end of his competitive riding, Robb established a road-race school in conjunction with former Motor Cycle magazine journalist and retail motorcycle shop owner David Dixon, using Yoshimura-equipped CB250, and CB450 Hondas, with Dixon being the UK importer and distributor of Yoshimura tuning equipment.