Barry Sheene, Britain's former world motorbike champion, has died after a long battle against cancer.

The 52-year-old twice won the 500cc world motorcycle championship in the 1970s and became famous for overcoming numerous crashes on the track. At one stage he raced with metal plates in both knees and 28 screws in his legs and left wrist.

His former publicist Andrew Marriott decribed Sheen as "a real hero".

"I spoke to him a month ago and I realised that this was a race he wasn't going to win but he was determined to fight for it."

Sheene's bravery and will to win helped him recover from two life-threatening injuries. The most dramatic was a 200mph crash at Daytona in 1975 which broke his thigh, right wrist, forearm, collarbone and fractured six ribs. He also suffered compound fractures to several vertebrae.

Undaunted, he was back racing within six weeks with an 18 inch steel rod holding his left thigh together.

Seven years later, Sheene was taking part in an open practice four days before the British GP at Silverstone. After colliding with a fallen machine at 160 mph, he was thrown from his bike, which burst into flames. Two broken legs and wrists were added to Sheene's roster of injuries. But fewer than three months later he was again back on the track.

Sheene was at his happiest receiving the plaudits of his adoring fans.

His talent, coupled with a hatred of losing, took him to two 500cc world championships. He was awarded an MBE in 1978.

Away from the track, Sheene was making headlines. He ran off to Salzburg in Austria with a married woman who later became his wife. They had two children together.

Eventually his legion of injuries began to catch up with him. His body becane crippled with arthritis and moved to Australia's Gold Coast, hoping the warmer climate might ease the pain. The final blow was delivered in july last year when he was diagnosed with throat and stomach cancer.

He died in hospital on Queensland's Gold Coast. Sheene leaves a wife, Stephanie, a daughter Sidonie, 18, and a son Freddie, 14.

Former formula one commentator Murray Walker said the world was a poorer place following Sheene's death. He said: "I am a very sad man today, because Barry Sheene was not only one of the most brilliant motorcyclists who has ever lived, but he was a lovely man. He was brilliantly cheerful. He had a core of steel."

Four times world superbike champion Carl Fogarty said Sheene "packed more into his 52 years than most people would have put into 100".

"He was the inspiration for millions," Fogarty told Britain's BBC Radio 5 Live. "He was the guy who made motorbike racing famous. There were other world champions from Britain who achieved more on the track but he brought it to the public attention. His lifestyle helped make him a hero. It is a sad day for his family and for motorcycle racing."

Guardian Unlimited ' Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001