Late News From England
LATE NEWS FROM ENGLAND
B. R. NICHOLLS
TO the enthusiast, the end of July and beginning of August might almost seem to be a period of stagnation, but to the competitor it must be a welcome breather to take stock of what has happened so far in the season and what might happen before the end. Do not think that this means nothing has been happening — each branch of the sport has had major meetings — but there has been a chance for riders to get back to base for a weekend or more which they have not been able to do for a while.
In the 250 world moto-cross, for example. Jeff Smith and Arthur Lampkin have been away on the continent for up to a, month at a time and even so have covered something like 18.000 miles to attend every round so far held, including the one in Russia. And for Jeff it looks as if it has all been in vain for the 22year-old Swedish rider Torsten Hallman has taken over the lead, riding his works Husqvarna. He moved to the front as a result of the British round of the championship where Dave Bickers was in fantastic form riding his works Greeves. As readers know, Bickers has been the class champion for the past two seasons when its status was European and not World Championship, but Dave’s riding against the best the world could offer showed that he is still the supreme master in his class. His announcement after the meeting that he hoped to contest the full series again next year gladdened the enthusiasts’ hearts in the knowledge that our best man will be back in the fray next year.
Bickers is also in the news for another reason and that is his choice to represent Great Britain in the Moto Cross des Nations team event to be held in Switzerland later this month. Not considered to be a “big bike” man, many think him to be a weak link, but he rode well in the British round of the 500cc world championship on a works Matchless and I don’t think he will let the side down. However, it is difficult to understand why the selectors have left John Burton out of the team. He is the only man from this country to regularly compete in the big capacity championship but has been plagued with machine troubles and in a team event ability to finish is the thing that matters.
In the championship itself the latest round to be held was the Dutch where for the first time two riders tied on time after the two races. It was fitting that the two should be table leaders Tibblin and Johansson. These two now have the event to themselves; one or the other must be champion. There are eleven events, the riders’ best six performances to count, and on that basis Tibblin has 45 out of a possible 48 points and Johansson 37 — with four events to be run the odds are on Tibblin. A pleasant position for Husqvarna for they now lead the big class with the 500cc four-stroke and the 250 with their two-stroke where Hallman’s position is very strong. Bickers win in the British round meant that Hallman added six to his score where Smith failed to add to his total. To gain the title Smith has to win the remaining rounds, one of which is in Sweden. For this home event the Husqvarna concern is going to have Tibblin back on a lightweight to help keep the B.S.A. opposition at bay. Tibblin was European champion on the Swedish two-stroke in 1959. It is a feature of both moto-cross classes that despite the strong competition half-a-dozen men do all the outright winning. In the 500 class Tibblin and Johansson have won between them all the events so far held and in the 250, Smith, Lampkin and Hallman with exception of the Czech round won by home rider Vlastimil Valek who also lies fourth in the championship.
To deal with the British rounds in a little more detail let’s take a look at what happened at Hawkstone Park on July the first. Here the Rickman brothers, Don and Derek, were riding their homemade special machines which they call Métissé — it is a French word meaning a mongrel bitch. Both are immaculately prepared, one with a Triumph engine, the other with the Matchless single. These two, with John Burton (B.S.A.), were expected to lead the home attack against the very strong Swedish challenge. It was significant that although nine countries were represented the winner was expected to come from Britain or Sweden. In the first race the Rickmans took an early lead, Don on the Triumph version soon going well to the front. But Tibblin was never far away and slowly wore down Don to take the lead on the last lap; third was Johansson (Lito).
In the second leg British hopes ran high when Burton led on his B.S.A. for the first five laps but then machine trouble put him out of the running. This put ex-champion Bill Nilsson in the lead but he, too, became a victim of mechanical trouble so Tibblin went into first place, which he kept to the finish. In this second race Bickers finished fifth to give him fifth place overall - he enjoyed his ride but commented that the 500 “tends to run away with me a bit.”
For the 250 championship at Glastonbury two weeks later, it was a different story. Dave ran away with it there all right. Snatching the lead early in both races he won easily, ridingwith a fire that had the crowd spellbound. Riding equally well if a little more subdued was Hallman and then into third place overall came the Czech Valek. Having made a petite Metisse specially for the event Don Rickman forced this 196cc Bultaco-engined special into fifth place overall — a fine effort indeed.
But there is no doubt about the fact that in the bigger class the Swedes are physically fitter than their opponents and this, coupled with the lightweight specials they build for this branch of the sport, makes them almost unbeatable although the Moto Cross des Nations team event may show otherwise.
On the road racing front Degner continues to.win the 50cc class but the only title so far resolved is that of the sidecar class where German Max Deubel has retained his World Championship on his works-engined B.M.W. outfit. He clinched this with a lap and race record breaking class win in the German Grand Prix, having been beaten the previous week in Belgium by Florian Camathias (B.M.W.), who broke the lap record with a speed of over 106 mph;
We now look forward to the most exciting British Championship meeting for many a long year, on paper anyway, for we should be seeing the M.V. and Honda fours in combat with riders of the calibre of Redman, Minter, McIntyre and Hailwood, and Deubel among the sidecars. Then a week later the Ulster Grand Prix, so the pace increases as the second half of the season really gets going.
