From apprentice mechanic to 500cc GP race winner, Kevin Magee built his career from scratch. We run you through his life from start to current. Photos: Lou Martin & BikeReview Archives.
When Ducati tuning guru Bob Brown approached Kevin Magee in 1982, neither of the larger than life personalities had any idea what their meeting would lead to. The tuning skills of Brown coupled with the talent of Magee was to become an unbeatable force.
When Victorian Ducati tuning guru Bob Brown approached Kevin Magee in late 1982, neither of the larger than life personalities had any idea what their meeting would lead to.
The bike was a Ducati Pantah that started life as a wreck. Bob had rebuilt it and, as Magee points out, “Had turned it into a superbike and ‘Bob Browned’ it.” Magee took to the bike like it was built for him.
Read our full feature on the Bob Brown Pantah here…
“I’d heard a lot about this young kid,” says Bob Brown, “People said he crashed a lot. But I watched him and kept an eye on him when he raced the RDs. I needed a rider as my rider at the time, Jeff Thyme, was getting married on race weekend. I decided to give Kevin a chance. It was the right decision”!
Kevin tested the bike and was immediately on the pace. In his first meeting on the Ducati, Magee won both Thunderbike races from Peter Muir. It was an astonishing result.
Kevin tested the bike and was immediately on the pace. In his first meeting on the Ducati, Magee won both Thunderbike races from Peter Muir. It was an astonishing result.
Check out part one of our Kevin Magee series here…
“I remember his face at the trophy presentation,” recalls Bob, “I think at the time Fat Head, as I called him, was an apprentice and he earned about $29 per week. You should have seen his face when he was handed a cheque for $700 with his trophy! He handed it to me, and I passed it back and said ‘No mate, that is your winnings’. He just couldn’t wipe the smile off his dial. He spent all of his money racing and he was always broke. I’ll never forget the time he drove his old ute into the Kookaburra Petrol Station at Melton and asked the attendant to put one-litre of gas in his car so he could get to my workshop. He really was a character!”
The 1983 season was a huge success for the duo. Kevin won the Victorian Thunderbike Series and NSW Formula European Championship, a series that he won all but one race, because he snapped a drive chain off the start!
The 1983 season was a huge success for the duo. Kevin won the Victorian Thunderbike Series and the NSW Formula European Championship, a series that he won all but one race, and that was because he snapped a drive chain off the start!
“I remember his face at the trophy presentation, [Kevin] was an apprentice and he earned about $29 per week. You should have seen his face when he was handed a cheque for $700″ said Bob.
“We also raced in the Eastern States rounds of the Australian Superbike Championships, “adds Kevin, “Plus the Mallala round, where I set a new outright lap record. I won the Tom Phillis Memorial meeting at Winton also. It was a good deal for me. Bob paid for tyres, entry fees and tent site fees because we stayed in a tent. I got to keep the prize money!”
Magee left school and started an apprenticeship as a mechanic at Irwin Motors, a Yamaha dealer and farmers supermarket. He started racing every weekend…
The essential element of 1983 was racing against the factory teams on the 680 Pantah. They were on 1000cc and 1100cc superbikes and Magee was really giving them some curry. That year he scored a third in one race against the factory boys and finished the championship fifth against the likes of Rob Phillis, Wally Campbell and Andrew Johnston.
Read more about Magoo’s time on the Bob Brown Ducati here…
“It was a good learning year for me,” says Magee, “Because I was finding out that I was pretty fast and getting faster against guys who I thought would hose me… We also did the Swann Series at the end of the year and I did well in that. Bob was a dedicated Seventh Day Adventist, so we wouldn’t practice on Saturday. We didn’t do anything and Bob wouldn’t even open his shop. We would do Friday practice and if there was anything that needed checking we would do it in the warm up on Sunday morning. It didn’t worry me at all though. I was being looked after very well and I had a great bike to ride”…
1984 saw Magee race the Bob Brown Pantah again, with the same race meetings scheduled as 1983, plus the plan to travel to NZ for the end of year races. But the season didn’t kick off too well…
1984 saw Magee race the Bob Brown Pantah again, with the same race meetings scheduled as 1983, plus the plan to travel to NZ for the end of year races. But the season didn’t kick off too well…
“All I wanted to do that year was race against the likes of Wally, AJ and Phillis. Early in the year I raced the TTF2 Ducati for the first time. It was like a real GP bike. I raced two classes in the 1 Hour at Calder; Up to 500cc and 500 – 1000cc. I was chasing down AJ, who was riding the factory Honda V4 860 and had a big lead over third place. There had been a sidecar blow up in the race before on the back straight, leaving oil everywhere. Five laps in I tipped it into the right-hander through the cement dust. The front tyre hit the curb and I went down, catching my right pinkie between the ‘bar and the road. Now it’s permanently bent and I almost lost it. That crash put me out for six weeks”.
“We also did the Swann Series at the end of the year and I did well in that. Bob was a dedicated Seventh Day Adventist, so we wouldn’t practice on Saturday.” said Magee
The next race was at Mallala. Bob Brown was on his way to Horsham to pick Magee up for the trip to SA. Meanwhile, Kevin was mucking around with a mate on a three-wheeler up in the back paddock of his family property. They were two-up, and Magee over stepped the mark and highsided.
Kevin continues the story, “I looked down and thought, ‘Oops.’ My foot was looking at me. I’d broken my leg. I was out for another six weeks. Bob wasn’t happy”!
“Here I was driving into Horsham,” says Bob, “When someone flags me down to tell me that Fat Head was in hospital with a broken leg. I could have strangled him”!
When fit, Kevin did all of the same races as 1983, plus raced in NZ at Gracefield International (the only time Bob let Kevin ride on a Saturday) and the Wanganui Street Races, where Magee finished second behind Dave Hiscock, the then World TTF1 Champion, who was riding his Macintosh Suzuki 1100…
“1983 was tough but a good year. We were really giving all the superbikes a tough time as I was learning more about riding and how to control a bike when going so fast,” says Magee, “But by the end of the year I was really getting keen to get on the same machinery as the factory boys as I knew I could run with them”…
1985 was Magee’s third year without Saturday practice but he didn’t mind, as Bob was very good to him. It was a huge year in Kevin’s career… In the Australian Superbike Championships, Magee was really starting to get under the factory team’s skin. At Winton, he broke the lap record in the morning warm up – by half a second!
“The factory team bosses rarely talked to each other,” recalls Bob, “As it was very competitive back then. But that morning, all of the team managers were seen huddled together, talking to ACU officials and trying to get rid of us”!
Magoo continues, “We’d show up in a Falcon XD panel van with a trailer. They’d be in big trucks with all the gear. And we’d make them look silly”.
“We’d show up in a Falcon XD panel van with a trailer. They’d be in big trucks with all the gear. And we’d make them look silly”. said Magee.
Magee’s results were getting him some recognition, and offers started to come in to ride other bikes. Bob was fine with it, as he could see that Kevin had a lot of talent and could go a long way. But they still had plenty to accomplish that year…
Check out our Rob Phillis “Legends” feature here…
Yamaha announced the RZ National Invitation Series, plus all States had their own RZ Series. Bob bought a bike for Kevin to ride in the State Series, while the RZ National Invitation Series bikes were supplied; You simply turned up, dug the key out of a hat and raced your lucky bike. The winner of the series was to go on and race in the finals in Holland.
“Kevin Magee was just an ordinary teenager who loved motorbikes. A dreamer from a small town. But there was a bit more spark in his eye than the average kid.”
Magee and Bob went 50/50 in earnings and debt. They won both the Victorian State RZ Series and the RZ National Invitation Series that year. Magoo was over the moon. He now had a chance to prove himself overseas at the final… But it didn’t happen…
“In May, Yamaha invited me to race in the Nippon Denso 500 with Michael Dowson,” says Magee, “We won it. And that led to more offers. In June Trevor Flood invited me to ride his Yamaha FZ750 road bike in the Calder round of the Aussieland Superbike Series. I finished third behind Wally and Phillis. That race confirmed to me that I could run with the best of them”.
In July Magee went to Japan for the first time, to compete in the Suzuka 8 hour with Rob Phillis on a Moriwaki CBX750. It was one week before the final round of the RZ National Invitation Series. In the second session Magee highsided on some oil and broke his scaphoid. He didn’t go to a doctor, but knew something was broken… Amazingly, Magee finished the race and he and Phillis crossed the line in ninth position!
Magee travelled home to compete at Oran Park, finishing third and winning the title. The Surfer’s Paradise Three Hour was coming up, so Magee went to the doc and got his wrist put in a splint. In a gut-wrenching decision, he handed his trip to Holland for the world final to the RZ National Invitation Series runner up in the series… Opting to heal up for the Three Hour, which he competed in. He also went on to finish third overall in a wet Castrol Six Hour, and second in the 750 class.
Late in the year Magee competed in the Swann Series on Trevor Flood’s awesome TZ750, finishing in the top 10 of the championship and having an impressive race at Surfer’s with then GP star, South African Dave Peterson. Sadly it was around this time that Kevin and Bob went their separate ways. Kevin’s career had moved forward but he was very grateful for what Bob had done and vice versa…
“Bob was the main reason why I was getting all these offers,” says Magee, “Without him and those Dukes I wouldn’t have been noticed”…
“Nobody was ever going to stop the kid from Horsham in Western Victoria. Not once Kevin Magee had the clippers on…”
Bob agrees, “Those were probably the most enjoyable years of my life really. Fat Head was a great talent and I was happy for him to move forward. The old Pantah didn’t die. In fact it ended up even more of a weapon, and in the end Alan Cathcart bought it to race overseas. It’s in a museum in Europe somewhere now”…
By now Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki were ringing Magee and looking for his services for 1986. But, he decided to stick with Yamaha as he was getting to know Dowson. Kevin was now a factory rider. The Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team was born… 1986 was huge. Magee went on to win the Castrol 6 Hour, the Arai 500, the Lakeside Hub 300 and finish second in the Swann International on a YZR500.
1986 was huge. Magee went on to win the Castrol 6 Hour, the Arai 500, the Lakeside Hub 300 and finish second in the Swann International Series with Yamaha.
Mid way through the season, Magee crashed at the Winton round of the superbike titles, breaking his collarbone. The Suzuka 8 Hour was just around the corner, so Kevin had his collarbone screwed and plated. He went over to Japan and qualified a domestic FZ750 in fourth place behind Kenny Roberts Snr, Wayne Gardner and Christian Sarron. He finished second with Mike Dowson behind Gardner after crashing and losing a lap!
Later that year, Magee travelled back to Japan and finished runner up behind Sarron in the Sugo TBC Big Road Race… On return to Australia the pair won the Castrol 6 Hour, despite being penalised a lap for a push start during a pit stop.
The Swann Series result really got people talking. Rob McElnea only just won the series by a few points from Magee. Oran Park was a standout. Magee put the YZR on pole and won the second race. People still talk about that one…
Next we look at 1987 and beyond, where Magee’s International career started to rapidly take shape…
Kevin Magee GP Career Stats
500 GRAND PRIX
- 1st x 1- 1988 SPA
- 3rd x 2 –1987 POR. 1988 POR
- 4th x 6 – 1988 NL. 1989 AUS, USA, YUG, NL. 1990 JAP
- 5th x 9 – 1988 NAT, WGER, YUG, GB. 1989 JAP, AUT, FRA, SWE. 1991 MAL
- 6th x 5 – 1988 AUT, SWE, BRA. 1989 GB, BRA
- 7th x 4 – 1988 JAP. 1989 WGER, BEL, CZE
- 9th x 2 –1988 FRA. 1993 JAP
- 10th x 1 – 1987 NL
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
- 1987 15th/11pts (Yamaha)
- 1988 5th/138pts (Yamaha)
- 1989 5th/138.5pts (Yamaha)
- 1990 21st/13pts (Suzuki)
- 1991 19th/19pts (Suzuki/Yamaha)
- 1993 25th/7pts (Yamaha)
OTHER MAJOR RESULTS
- 1981 Millage RD250LC State Champion (Vic)
- 1982 Millage RD350LC State Champion (Vic)
- 1983 Victorian Thunderbike Champion
- 1983 NSW Formula European Champion
- 1985 2nd NZ superbike race, Bob Brown Ducati
- 1985 9th Suzuka 8 Hour with Rob Phillis
- 1985 RZ Master Series State and National winner
- 1985 TZ750 top ten Swann Series
- 1985 1st place Nippon Denso 500, Winton
- 1985 3rd Castrol 6 Hour
- 1986 2nd Suzuka 8 Hour (on domestic Yamaha Superbike with Mike Dowson)
- 1986 1st Castrol 6 Hour
- 1986 1st Arai 500
- 1986 1st Lakeside Hub 300
- 1986 2nd TTF1, Sugo, Japan
- 1986 2nd Swann Series on YZR500
- 1987 All Japan TTF1 Champion, won every race
- 1987 1st Suzuka 8 Hour with Martin Wimmer
- 1987 1st Castrol 6 Hour
- 1987 1st Swann Series
- 1988 1st Suzuka 8 Hour with Wayne Rainey
- 1988 1st TBC Big Race, Sugo, Japan
- 1989 1st TBC Big Race, Sugo, Japan
- 1991 2nd Suzuka 8 Hour
- 1991 2nd / 5th World Superbike, Sugo, Japan
- 1991 1st / 2nd World Superbike, Phillip Island
- 1992 2nd All Japan 500 Championship
- 1992 2nd Suzuka 8 Hour
Kevin Magee is the only rider ever to have finished on top of the podium in the four premier class World Championships – World 500cc Grand Prix
- World TT Formula One
- World Superbikes
- World Endurance
With World TT Formula One now redundant, this milestone can never be broken.
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