03 Aug On yer bike: Jonathan (Jon) Ekerold

While the museum’s business operations are slowly opening up, FMM Curator Wayne Harley continues his series of recollections of South Africa’s motorcycling heroes…

One of the very few men – and maybe the last – to ever win the motorcycle world championship as a privateer was Jonathan (Jon) Ekerold, who is our South African hero this month. Jon was born in Johannesburg on  8 October 1946 and, like many of us,  started out riding on a 50cc before he could eventually buy himself a bigger machine, settling on a Yamaha 250 YDS. Who would have known that he would stay with this Japanese brand of motorcycle right up to the day he was crowned world champion. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

His Yamaha YDS did duty as his daily transport and became his race bike in local hill climbs and the odd race in the production bike series at the Roy Hesketh circuit outside Pietermaritzburg. These events laid the foundation for his racing career, but it would take him two more years to save enough money to acquire his first true race machine, a 250c Yamaha TD2. By this time Jon was in his mid-20s; however, a number of injuries and a road accident in which his race bike and trailer were badly damaged really slowed his progress. So, by the time Jon decided to give the European circus a go he was already 28 years old, an age that was generally considered too old to be embarking on an international career. In his own words, this was one of the major reasons for him never really securing a factory ride. Nevertheless, Jon was – and still is – often referred to as one of the hardest riders ever to have raced in the world championship, even to taking part with broken bones that saw him removing his own plaster casts just to race. It was this sheer grit and determination that was to keep him going, no matter what.

He left SA in 1975 and raced 250cc and 350cc Yamahas, scoring points in both classes, with a second position finish in Austria and a third in Germany as best results. In 1976, Jon also got to ride a 500cc Yamaha during the season, but it was not his best year. Reverting to riding only a 250 and a 350, the 1977 season would bring him his first win in the 250 class at the French GP, but it was in the 350 class that Jon actually fared better, finishing third overall in the championship. The 1978 season brought him two third-place finishes in the 350 class, and he finished fourth in the championship. The following year Jon notched up a second place at the Austrian MotoGP and a win in Germany, again in the 350 class.

On to 1980 and a switch to a Bimota-Yamaha 350. Jon only raced a 350 that year, winning at Paul Ricard in France, then just a few weeks later winning the Dutch TT at Assen followed by an excellent second in the British Motorcycle GP held at Silverstone. He was on a roll and showing the way to the all-conquering Kawasaki factory team and his closet rival, Anton Mang. By the time they all arrived at the Czech Motorcycle GP to be held at the Brno circuit, Jon held a 14-point lead over Mang. With only two more races left in the season, there was a good chance that Jon could wrap-up the world title with a race to spare. But politics would decide otherwise when his two South African mechanics, Gregg Irvine and Keith Petersen, were refused access into the old Czechoslovakia because of the political situation at that time. Jon managed to entrée by means of a Norwegian passport on his father’s side. So, Jon had to go it alone…

Brno was an 11km-long road circuit and the race was over 13 laps. Jon lead from the start and was on track to take the world title but fate is a cruel mistress, and about half way through the race the Yamaha started losing power. True to his driven and determined character, Jon pressed on and limped across the line to finish tenth. This meant the world title would go down to the wire to be decided at the German Motorcycle GP, at the famous Nürburgring.

What a showdown that must have been: David vs Goliath – what I would have given to have been able to see this race!. Mang took pole position and on paper it was no contest as the Kawasaki rider was nine seconds faster than Jon on his privateer Bimota-Yamaha. It was a six-lap race on the 22,5km-long circuit. Some say it wasn’t a race with much excitement until the last supernatural lap of Jon Ekerold. With that fighting spirit that had made him one of the hardest GP riders, Jon dug deep to produce an epic lap on a 350cc machine that would have put him on the second row of 500cc race that day. This amazing effort was only topped by the fact that he caught up to and passed Mang at the last corner to become the 1980 350cc World Champion – the last privateer to do so.

Jon returned in 1981 to defend his 350cc world title and would finish in an honourable second overall with two wins plus a second and third as his best results.  In 1982 and 83 he signed with Cagiva to race in the 500cc class, but this did not achieve a similar rate of success as with Yamaha. Two other great accomplishments in his career were winning the Ulster Grand Prix and twice finishing in second place at the Isle of Man TT.

Once Jon retired from motorcycle racing he returned to South Africa and started a Yamaha dealership (now that’s brand loyalty), which he later sold to his brother Peter before going on to breed racehorses.  Jon and his family relocated to Germany where he still lives today. He has written a book titled Jon Ekerold, The Privateer, which I am finding is difficult to obtain.

(NB: No copyright infringement is intended with any of the images used to illustrate this article.)