Kel Carruthers

Infobox Former Grand Prix motorcycle rider


Caption = Kel Carruthers, Mallory Park 1970
Name = Kel Carruthers
Nationality = flagicon|Australia Australian
Years = 1966 - 1970
Teams = Aermacchi, Benelli, Yamaha
Races = 56
Championships = 250cc - 1969
Wins = 7
Podiums = 22
Points =
Poles = N/A
Fastest laps = N/A
First race = 1966 350cc Ulster Grand Prix
First win = 1969 250cc Isle of Man TT
Last win = 1970 250cc Ulster Grand Prix
Last race = 1970 250cc Spanish Grand Prix

Kelvin (Kel) Carruthers (born 3 January 1938 in Sydney) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He went on to become a successful race team manager.

Carruthers was the son of a motorcycle shop owner and learned how to work on bikes from a young age. By the early 1960s he had won the Australian 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc National Championships. Afterwards, he moved to Europe with his family to compete in the Grand Prix World Championship series riding bikes for the Aermacchi factory. In 1969, he was offered a ride with the Benelli factory and won the FIM 250cc road racing world championship after a tight points battle with Santiago Herrero and Kent Andersson.

After the 1970 Grand Prix season, he accepted an offer from Yamaha to race in America. Yamaha asked him to tutor a young American dirt track racer named Kenny Roberts. In 1973, Carruthers became the manager of Yamaha's American racing team. Under Carruther's guidance, Roberts would win the 1973 and 1974 Grand National Championship for Yamaha. When it became apparent that Yamaha didn't have a bike able to compete with the dominant Harley Davidson dirt track team, they decided to send Carruthers and Roberts to Europe to compete in the road racing world championships. With Carruthers tuning the bikes and offering guidance, Roberts went on to win three consecutive world championships. Carruthers also managed Eddie Lawson to a 500cc World Championship.

Carruthers went on to work for several Grand Prix teams through to the 1995 season. In 1996, he took a job with the Sea-Doo watercraft factory racing team, helping them win several national and world titles. He returned to motorcycling in 1998 running a Yamaha satellite motocross team.

In 1985, Carruthers was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

References

* [http://www.motogp.com/en/riders/profiles/Kel+Carruthers Kel Carruthers career statistics at MotoGP.com]
* [http://www.sahof.org.au/ Sport Australia Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=139 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame]