Paul Bird, the British Superbikes team owner, dies aged 56

Post by **weeksy** » Fri Sep 01, 2023 7:49 pm

https://www.crash.net/bsb/news/1034688/ ... es-aged-56

Paul Bird has sadly died, at the age of 56.

A statement from British Superbikes confirmed: "The Bennetts British Superbike Championship is deeply saddened to announce the sudden passing of Paul Bird, the Team Owner of Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM), the series’ most successful team.

"Paul Bird died earlier today at the age of 56 following a short time in hospital with illness. Paul’s family are requesting privacy during this time."

Bird was also a former rally driver.

He ran Paul Bird Motorsport in MotoGP from 2012 to 2014 using ART bikes and its own PBM machinery.

Post by **Skub** » Fri Sep 01, 2023 7:54 pm

I just saw KFB's post in the death thread. That'll leave some massive hole in the BSB paddock. He was a character for sure and 56 is no age to fuck off the planet these days.

demographic · Post by **demographic** » Fri Sep 01, 2023 8:34 pm

Not a nice person IMO.
Wife beater and alledged (by someone I know who lived in the same village as him) coke dealer who when he was returning home in his helicopter and spotted the police at his house dropped a package of coke into the local scrapyard to pick up later. Or so the srory goes anyway but deffo a wife beater.

One of the fastest riders up Barbon Hillclimb for years though with a time of 26 seconds on a modded CR500.so he must be ace eh?

Yorick · Post by **Yorick** » Fri Sep 01, 2023 11:25 pm

demographic wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 8:34 pm Not a nice person IMO.
Wife beater and alledged (by someone I know who lived in the same village as him) coke dealer who when he was returning home in his helicopter and spotted the police at his house dropped a package of coke into the local scrapyard to pick up later. Or so the srory goes anyway but deffo a wife beater.

One of the fastest riders up Barbon Hillclimb for years though with a time of 26 seconds on a modded CR500.so he must be ace eh?

One of his BSB race wagons was caught with loads of drugs and some guns.
He got away with it, allegedly.

One of the F.E. instructors got 8 years for that

And he was banned from car racing a few times for drug abuse.

Post by **Bigyin** » Fri Sep 01, 2023 11:27 pm

He was a larger than life character who did a lot for the sport through his teams and also gave a platform to some British racers to step them up to another level.

Yes, he was a "marmite" personality who probably pissed off as many people as those who adored him and i am aware of the stories/rumours relating to his off track activities and i wasnt a fan of how he treated some of his riders over the years but its a fact his passing will leave another big hole in the BSB paddock (with McAms leaving) as i doubt the team will continue without him driving it on/funding it which could mean the loss of the 2 biggest teams in the paddock in short notice. His enthusiasm and drive made for a very professional team and gave good careers to many

I knew he was unwell and the last time he was in the paddock he really looked ill but i was still surprised to hear the news today at 56 years of age

Post by **wull** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 1:26 pm

Nice classy post BigYin unlike the tasteless wallopers above.

ZRX61 · Post by **ZRX61** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 2:35 pm

I thought drug funded race teams was a US thing (Whittington brothers, Randy Lanier etc)

Bustaspoke · Post by **Bustaspoke** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:13 pm

weeksy wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 7:49 pm
Bird was also a former rally driver.

He was also a international level MX rider until he broke his leg

Bustaspoke · Post by **Bustaspoke** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:15 pm

Yorick wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 11:25 pm
One of his BSB race wagons was caught with loads of drugs and some guns.
He got away with it, allegedly.

It wasn't BSB,it was when he was running the Kawasaki WSBK team

Yorick · Post by **Yorick** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:17 pm

Bustaspoke wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:15 pm
Yorick wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 11:25 pm
One of his BSB race wagons was caught with loads of drugs and some guns.
He got away with it, allegedly.

It wasn't BSB,it was when he was running the Kawasaki WSBK team

Was just reading it

https://www.visordown.com/news/general/ ... -smuggling

Post by **weeksy** » Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:41 pm

Really, time and place?

Bustaspoke · Post by **Bustaspoke** » Mon Sep 04, 2023 7:33 am

weeksy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:41 pm Really, time and place?

It's mentioned here ,under his photo.https://the-race.com/motogp/obituary-ex ... s-aged-56/
From what I remeber he broke his leg & never got to MX GP level again

Post by **weeksy** » Mon Sep 04, 2023 8:33 am

Bustaspoke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2023 7:33 am
weeksy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:41 pm Really, time and place?
It's mentioned here ,under his photo.https://the-race.com/motogp/obituary-ex ... s-aged-56/
From what I remeber he broke his leg & never got to MX GP level again

I meant, theres a time and place for having a dig about someone from others on here

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Paul Bird, the British Superbikes team owner, dies aged 56

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