Indholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2017 i Classic Racer

Two legends of GP racing stole the limelight at the International Festival of Speed at Sydney Motorsport Park, Australia. One was the most winning racer in GP history and the other the most winning crew chief. Everyone expected to see Giacomo Agostini and his outrageously loud MV but few expected to see Jeremy Burgess spannering all weekend on a collection of RG500 Suzukis. ‘Ago’ has 15 world titles while Burgess is the brains behind 14 world titles. This contrast summed up a special weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park. It also underlined how this annual event has been transformed from just classic racing into a classic spectacle that salutes great eras of endeavour. Last year, the focus was two-strokes, this year it was a weekend of Italian four-stroke exotica from the…

History was made at Daytona in March, when a new look Flat Track series, run on a brand-new track layout, built within the massive Daytona race complex, provided Indian Motorcycles with an historic victory when Jared Mees won the headline American Flat Track TT main event on an Indian Scout FTR750. The Daytona TT opened the debut season for the newly rebranded American Flat Track series, with competitors greeted by a challenging 0.6-mile dirt-track course in the Daytona International Speedway tri-oval area. Mees, from Clio, Michigan, led all 25 laps of the main event, beating last year’s flat track national champion Bryan Smith, also now an Indian factory rider, by 9.174 seconds. Henry Wiles (Kawasaki Ninja 650) finished third. Mees gave the Indian Motorcycle Company its first Daytona victory since…

Cal Crutchlow was awarded the Royal Automobile Club’s covetedTorrensTrophy in January, for being first British rider to win a premier class World Championship Motorcycle Grand Prix in 35 years. The trophy has only been awarded nine times in its history and only when the club feels that the achievement justifies it. “I feel very privileged that the Royal Automobile Club considers me worthy of it,” said 31-year-old Crutchlow. “It’s taken a long time, and a lot of hard work, and it’s an honour to be recognised by such well-respected industry figures.” Barrie Baxter, Chairman of the Torrens Trophy Nominations Committee, said: “Cal Crutchlow is one of the most fearless riders in Moto GP. Last season, Crutchlow became the first Brit to win a premier class race since Barry Sheene in…

The recent Phillip Island International Classic saw an impressive and enthusiastic contingent of Irish riders make the long journey down and back. Among them was Sean Henry, no stranger to these pages over the years, who worked hard all weekend trying to improve his lap times. Dissatisfied with his results he decided to give it his all for the last race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon. However, on the last lap, of the last race, while braking hard for Siberia, he overdid it just a fraction and bounced and rolled his way into the kitty litter.Thankfully, other than scuffed leathers and a slightly dented pride, Sean was unhurt and is planning his return visit in 2018.…

Dear CR, It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter having just heard of the passing of John Surtees. Surtees was everything that I thought a racing gentleman should be. He always appeared to carry himself with a certain style and class, even for the time he stood out as an exponent of the racing world, who always made for an ideal ambassador. I was lucky enough to chat with the man a couple of times over the years and having waited my turn to get a few minutes with the racing icon, I was able to ask what his biggest regret was in his career of riding and driving. He told me that he ‘should have been more patient’ when dealing with the likes of Norton…

As you will have noticed by now, this is a special issue of Classic Racer. As soon as we heard the news about John Surtees, both Malc and I agreed that CR should devote the first, serious section of this issue to the man himself. As I sit here at Classic Racer towers, in a building that Mr Surtees opened for Mortons in 2004, I am reminded of how the man who won seven motorcycling GP world titles conducted himself each time I met with him.You can watch one of those meetings in the DVD attached to this cover (digital and export readers visit: classicracer.com/185dvd/). In it you’ll see Mr Surtees relaxed and happy, talking about racing. We can all relate to our shared passion. Over the years, whether we…

In March 1960, aged 26, John Surtees made his four-wheeled racing debut by winning the Formula Junior race at Goodwood in the first car race meeting he’d ever attended, driving a Cooper-BMC entered by his near neighbour KenTyrrell. Frustrated by Count Agusta’s refusal to allow him to race other motorcycles in non-championship events, he decided instead to combine both bike and car racing that year, making his Formula 1 debut for Colin Chapman’s Lotus team in the Monaco GP on May 29, retiring from the race with a broken transmission. Flying from there to the Isle of Man forTT practice, Surtees led all the way on his MV Agusta to win his final SeniorTT, becoming the first person to average over 100mph in riding to victory on theTT Course, with…

Beau Beaton, Jeremy McWilliams and Aaron Morris took the interFOS racing component into another league. It all started when the Period 5 class early races looked like a continuation of the Island Classic International Challenge. Jeremy McWilliams was entered at the last minute on theTom Dermody XR69 ridden so well last year byTeam Ireland’s Derek Sheils. Early clutch troubles didn’t dent his enthusiasm while Irving Vincent ace Beau Beaton and Island Classic race winner Alex Phillis slugged it out in the early races. Then Beaton took the Irving Vincent, which had failed so spectacularly at the Island Classic, up another notch on Saturday afternoon. Not content with dominating the Period 5 class, he actually led the combined P5-P6 races for a time in the best race of the weekend early…

Regular CRMC and European classic competitor, and now the driving force behind the late Brian Richards race team, Angela Cragg has roped her brother Alan and father John in to tackle the Endurance Legends Donington Park 4-Hour race. All three riders are new to endurance racing but all hold ACU National road race licences and have a wealth of experience between them. John has years of years of experience having raced from the late 1960s through to 1995, and has kept his hand in with the odd race or two. Angela races 250cc Manx Norton and 350cc Aermacchi with the CRMC and is a regular on the roads scene in Belgium. She has also continued the great work she shared with the late Brian Richards in running top TT riders…

‘Mr Gold Star’ Eddie Dow passed away on March 17. Born on June 26, 1924, Eddie’s life revolved around the BSA brand, originally opening a dealership in Banbury in 1956, and from the early 1960s his focus was solely on BSA. Such was the respect that BSA had for him they welcomed his improvements to the machines they were producing and he was responsible for the development of the Gold Star and the creation of the BSA Rocket Gold Star. All at Classic Racer send sincere condolences to Eddie’s family and close friends. We featured a full appreciation of Eddie’s life and achievements in issue #176 of Classic Racer.…

With entries now closed for the 2017 Blackford’s Pre-TT Classic Road Races, race secretary, George Peach, reports that some great racing is on the cards. Amongst the entries are no less than seven previous champions, including the winner of the Office Equipment Centre 350cc Singles Race, Mike Hose, who last year brought his tally of wins at the prestigious Billown Classic Races to 14. With entries in six races this year, he could well be on target to increase that number. Mark Herbertson and Rich Hawkins, second and third in the Office Equipment Centre race last year are also returning.…

Well known Grimsby motorcycle dealer George Petch passed away recently, aged 74, after a long battle with cancer. Until his recent retirement, George, along with his wife Anne, ran his Honda dealership, George Petch Wheels, in Brighowgate, Grimsby. George had a lifelong passion for both motorcycles and cars, something he turned into a successful career and business. After first working in Grimsby car dealerships, George took on responsibility for Freddie Frith Motorcycles in Victoria Street, Grimsby, after Mr Frith retired and the business was acquired by local businessman John Dixon. George and Anne then took the plunge and acquired Ray Grommet’s motorcycle dealership in the town, renaming it Wheels. The business eventually moved to Brighowgate, in 1995, selling both Honda and Suzuki. George was a great friend to many and…

Paul Shoesmith, who sadly lost his life in the 2016 TT, was a great supporter of the Joey Dunlop Foundation and as such his work is to be remembered at the Joey Dunlop holiday complex. After the death of Simon Andrews, at the North West 200, Paul also worked with the foundation to help organise the Simon Andrews Memorial Lap and Janet, Paul’s partner, has also been a supporter of the charity, with her father and brother assisting with fundraising in the past. The JDF have decided it is appropriate to remember Paul at the JDF holiday complex and there was only one option – to purchase a memorial bench to be situated next to Simon Andrews’ memorial bench. To this end the JDF fund have decided to start a…

The members ofThe Classic 50 Racing Club, who are dedicated to the preservation of 50cc road racing in the UK, are to compete in the National 50cc Road Racing Championships. The series, which has been reinstated by the ACU, will be open to any 50cc road race machine conforming to either the Classic 50 Racing Club’s rules or the Freetech group rules. As a result, the championship will have two victors, one from the Classic 50cc Class and one from the Freetech Class, with prize money distributed between the classes. To compete you do not have to be a member of either group. The championship will be run over six rounds, atTonfanau, Mallory Park, Darley Moor, Aberdare Park, Lydden Hill and Cadwell Park. For full details visit the Classic 50…

Born in West Virginia during the fall of 1925, Paul Goldsmith moved as a teen to the Detroit, Michigan area which, as it turned out, was instrumental in the ongoing story of his life. In the late 1940s-60s Detroit was the manufacturing hub of the emerging automotive performance culture, meaning Paul was in the perfect place to pursue a career in motorsport. His motorcycle racing started soon after the end of the Second World War when Goldsmith took his money from working at Chrysler and bought a Harley-Davidson. He said: “During the war H-D made 45ci bikes and I bought one of those in Detroit just after the war when things started up again… it was my first motorcycle in the beginning of 1946. “I met the local Harley dealer…

John Surtees may have had his first taste of riding a motorcycle at the age of 12 on the Wallace-Blackburne speedway bike, but it wasn’t until the lofty age of 14 that he took his first step into motorcycle competition. John said: “I was 14 when I first entered a race. It was as a passenger to my father in his 1000cc Vincent sidecar outfit at Trent Park in London when his usual partner couldn’t make the race.” In a set of his father’s old leathers, the young John became adept at providing traction by shifting around the outfit, but his early taste of action was curtailed when officials discovered his age, and promptly disqualified him for being underage! He was bitten by the bug though and just before his…

Only the legendary Mike Hailwood with 14 wins and Giacomo Agostini with 10 (tying with the great pre-Second World War maestro Stanley Woods), were more successful in the big-bike classes. Considering the honours he was later to gain there, Surtees’ Island debut could hardly have been less auspicious. Already identified as a star of the future by virtue of his growing success as an 18-year-old short circuit rider, plans to ride in the Manx GP of 1952 fell through when, as a Vincent apprentice, he was called on to assist the factory in a series of record attempts at Montlhery in September that year. However in 1953 John and his father obtained the promise of a Manx Norton from Norton boss Gilbert Smith, and entered for the TT. Imagine John’s…

Sitting on the leather sofa across the room from us is Valentino Rossi and Bradley Smith. Alongside them in his chair is Wayne Rainey, with his scrapbooks on his knee, flicking through the pages of his racing life. Rossi is animated, as only an Italian can be, and young Bradley, at that point in his career a young Yamaha hope for the future is silent, with his eyes full of admiration. We, Mrs W and I, walk past two of Wayne’s World Championship winning Yamaha’s and a Jorge Lorenzo title-winning M1 Yamaha which grace his trophy-laden man cave, and through the kitchen heading for the late afternoon Californian sunshine. This is Wayne and Shae Rainey’s beautiful home high in the hills above the Laguna Seca race track. The kitchen is…

After 10 years of fundraising, the Joey Dunlop Foundation holiday apartments in the Isle of Man were officially opened by Linda Dunlop and John McGuinness on Mad Sunday 2010. The apartments have been designed and equipped to provide all-year-round holiday accommodation for people of all ages, with various health issues and needs. In fact, the JDF apartments are the only specialist holiday provider on the Island to have gained a National Accessible Scheme exceptional grading. During the winter months, the foundation would like to assist local residents who are between hospital and home. With an aging population, demand continues to grow, which was the catalyst to fundraise and build additional apartments. On October 1, 2016, Island resident and World Super Bike Champion, Jonathan Rea, helped dig the foundations for the…

The motorcycle world has lost one of its great characters. Jaap Timmer (1939) died after a short illness on February 22, at his home at Witten only a few miles from his TT Assen circuit. Being the son of Geert Timmer – who raced for several years at the Dutch TT and one of the organisers of the Dutch TT – he was involved in motorcycle racing from his birth. Jaap was on the board of the Stichting Circuit Assen for many years. He was also a well known circuit, radio, and television commentator, race official and magazine columnist. During his 10 year period as president of the FIM Road Race Commission he did a lot to improve circuit safety and the professionalism of the sport. After his retirement he…

Norton missed a trick with Surtees Dear CR, It has been well documented that Norton’s decision to slow down and stop international, and seriously supported, racing at the end of the 1955 season was a mistake born of a combination of lack of foresight and investment in key areas, but what does anyone else think that Mr Surtees would have achieved had he stayed on at Norton instead of shifting to MV? I have long wondered where his career would have turned and, in turn, what that may have meant for the British motorcycle industry at the time if he had managed to get Norton to listen to him and make a motorcycle that could compete and beat the Italians. I believe that he could have gone on to world…

Way into the Seventies even world champions usually only had a single mechanic assigned to each of the bikes they were riding in the various Grand Prix classes and, in the cases of privateer riders, there was quite often just one man for all available bikes. Those were the days when the riders themselves expected to get their own hands dirty! Not for them the brigade of crew chiefs, computer technicians and ‘engineers’ that fill the pit garages at a MotoGP. More often back then it was a luxury to even have a pit garage. Bikes were worked on either in the open air of the paddock, maybe under an awning or even in the back of a van if the weather was bad. Note the use of the word…