From an aspiring Australian racer to a 500cc world championship runner-up, Jack Findlay became one of motorcycle racing’s enduring characters. This archive feature revisits his extraordinary career, the story behind his Jakeman Matchless and the years he spent competing across Europe.

Hero of the continental circus

The headline used here is also the title of a new book on 1960s and 1970s racer Jack Findlay, here pictured in 1968.

Published in 2025, Jacques Bussillet’s biography of Australian road racer Jack Findlay carries the same name as the headline of this piece, and was translated from the original French by our regular contributor Alan Cathcart. The book was reviewed in our December 2025 issue by Jonathan Hill, who detailed the ups and downs of Findlay’s career, from leaving Australia in 1958 bound for the UK, armed with an aged 350cc Manx Norton and a heart full of hope. Interestingly, he wasn’t a top-level Aussie racer on his departure, but a part-time rider of seemingly modest ability, though with a great deal of grit and determination.

Life on the continental circus

Findlay’s initial journey saw him accompanied by his wife, but when they all (by now they had a young son) returned to Australia for a visit in 1961, Mrs Findlay decided to remain, unable to face another British winter and uncertain existence. Findlay’s mindset was such that he returned alone and chased his dreams of motorcycle-racing success, taking to the circuits of Europe and leading a hand-to-mouth existence, competing for start and prize money. Soon, he was accompanied by his French girlfriend Nanou, the ‘ex’ of his French pal Jacques Insermini, though all remained friends. Insermini wanted to retire, while Nanou loved the nomadic life; she and Findlay became almost the personification of the term ‘continental circus’ and mainstays of the paddock for many years. Indeed, the 1972 French film Continental Circus (which can be found on YouTube; there’s lots of great period footage in it, including some early ‘on-bike’ camera work) focused on the pair.

The highs of 1968 and difficulties of 1969

The film, despite its release date, was largely recorded during the 1969 grand prix season which, ironically, was probably Findlay’s worst – coming off the back of 1968, the year of our subject picture, which was his most successful to that point. His good results in 1968 (which saw him finish runner-up to Giacomo Agostini in the 500cc title chase, taking five second places) meant he was offered a works Linto for 1969, but the year turned into a disaster, with machine breakdowns, crashes and injuries, all of which are detailed in the film. The movie captures the emotional and physical toll: there are shots of Nanou anxiously trying to reach medical centres after yet another crash, while Findlay later hobbles painfully on a stick. After giving up on the Linto, Findlay borrowed the spare Arter Matchless from Peter Williams, only to crash it spectacularly at Spa (where, incidentally, Mike Hailwood reckoned Findlay the best he ever encountered), and in the film there’s the call he has to make to “Peter”, to tell “Tom” about the damage to the bike – which Findlay had to pay for out of his own pocket.

The Jakeman Matchless

The reason he was riding the Arter Matchless was because by then he’d given up on the motorcycle he was probably most associated with – and that’s the one (of sorts) in our picture: the McIntyre Matchless. But you’ll notice that this one has Jakeman Matchless on the petrol tank. The reason was simple: this machine wasn’t the original McIntyre Matchless (built for Bob McIntyre by the Scottish Joe Potts equipe) but the replica frame which Findlay had Bill Jakeman make; it was wider than the original, allowing the use of a six- (some say five-) speed Schafleitner gearbox which wouldn’t fit in the original. That first machine (bought in 1962 by Findlay and raced extensively by him) was sold to British rider Brian Ball in (presumably the winter of) 1965/66, now fitted with an AJS 7R engine, as it had been used in Findlay’s latter days on the bike. It’s unusual to see “Jakeman” on the petrol tank, as the machine was generally always referred to as the McIntyre Matchless. There are also no details of where the picture was taken; despite the Japanese gentleman and the sign at the top of the image, it seems unlikely to be Japan, as there was no Japanese GP in 1968.

Grand prix victories and later racing

Jack Findlay rallied from his dreadful 1969 and secured his long-awaited GP win in 1971, at the Ulster GP, becoming Suzuki’s first Senior-class winner. He raced on until 1978, on a variety of machines including two years in the works Suzuki team in 1973 and 1974, winning the Senior TT in the earlier year. He was also F750 world champion (aged 40) in 1975 on a Yamaha, and claimed a final – controversial – 500cc GP victory in 1977, in a race boycotted by all but five other riders. He retired at the end of 1978, also splitting with Nanou. It was the end of an era.

Life after racing

Jack Findlay later worked for Michelin, and then from 1992 to 2002 as the FIM’s technical director in grand prix racing. He remained in France and married his partner Dominique in the early 1990s, before dying in 2007. Findlay succumbed to respiratory disease – emphysema – which he reckoned was a consequence of all the years spent inhaling racing fuels from motorcycles.

Original article appeared in The Classic Motorcycle Magazine