Sunday 9th September 1951

Geoff Duke and his ever trusty Norton won the 1951 350cc Class Nations Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit in Monza, Italy. Britain flexed it’s Grand Prix muscle as riders Geoff Duke, Bill Doran and John Lockett finished the GP season one, two, three in the 350cc Class. Matter of fact, a Norton crossed the finish line four out of the first five (Bill Doran was on an AJS). Final 350cc Class Standings – Geoff Duke/Norton, Bill Doran/AJS, John Lockett/Norton, Ken Kavanaugh (Australia)/Norton and Jack Brett/Norton. Geoff Duke totally dominated the 350cc Class winning with 40 points (including 5 wins) to 19 points (1 win) by Bill Dolan. Among all the trophy’s and accolades bestowed upon Geoff Duke the biggest was in 1953 when, in recognition of his services to motorcycling, he was awarded an OBE.