Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B. R. NICHOLLS
RACE-WISE OR BUSINESS-WISE YOU cannot stop the Rickman brothers, for Don and Derek now plan to assault the road race game in a big way and offer for sale in 1967 Matchless Metisse road racing machinery. This year will be spent perfecting the machines and they will be working in close cooperation with Tom Kirby, Britain’s arch sponsor/enthusiast. Frame for the new machine will be a cross between the Featherbed and Metisse, with the accent on the Metisse side. It will be made from 16-gauge aircraft specification tubing with eighteen-inch wheels to give a steering height of thirty-two inches against the thirty-three of a standard Matchless G-50. Disc brakes of a make not previously used on motorcycles will be used if tests prove successful. This will save ten pounds in weight per wheel which, added to that saved by the new frame, will give total of 255 pounds compared with the 295 of a G-50 or 310 of a 500 Manx Norton. Cost of these machines in England, with a G-50 engine, is anticipated in the region of $1900.
But the story does not end there. Kirby is thrilled by the enthusiasm of the Rickmans (who are going ahead with the backing of the mighty British Petroleum concern), not the least by the fact that it gives him such a start in his power-toweight-ratio battle with the lightweight 350cc Kirby AJS. Although intended primarily for AJS and Matchless engines, the new frame will also be available in kit form complete with engine plates to accommodate BSA, Matchless, Norton and Triumph twins. By the time you are reading this, tests will already have taken place with the first completed model, and with the new disc brake.
Tom Kirby will enter a team of three of these machines in the Isle of Man TT with Bill Ivy and Chris Conn as two of the three riders, so at last it looks as if there is a definite plan to put Britain back on the map with a worthwhile road race machine. This has come at a time when there is a lull in the talk for a proposed British world-beating racing motorcycle. The finances for this device, still in the talking stage, are to come from the Manx Hospitals’ lottery fund, which was based on last year’s Manx Grand Prix and is also intended to be run on TT races. There is about $19,000 in the kitty so far and you don’t need me to tell you how far that would go toward designing and building a new race bike. You could re-surface the TT course with all that has been written on the subject of what the design should be and who should do it, but there is no getting away from the fact that even though 250s may be as quick as the 500s, it is still the big class that attracts the public, so let’s go for a new 500. Oh, just in case you are worried about a lottery and shady characters victimizing riders, the ticket draw is made after the race at the prize-giving.
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Still on the road race front, Count A gusta is reported to be awaiting the 500cc Honda with great interest. He seems to be convinced by the rumors, for he called it a V-8 though nothing has yet been stated by the factory to confirm this. How they must be laughing if in fact it is a four that they have, always supposing they have a full-blown 500 anyway. The Count then proceeded to say that V-8 opposition would give him the chance to bring out his surprise packet, though he would give no details of it. Motor Cycle News over here latched onto the story very quickly, with personal comment from John Hartle about the 500cc MV six-cylinder device that last appeared in 1958. Hartle is convinced that it could be a world-beater; when he raced it had had no development work done on it, acceleration was hampered by a very narrow power band and only a five-speed box to cope with the 10,800 revs. Surprisingly, it was half-aninch narrower than the four. It had handling better than anything Hartle had ridden and he was a works Norton man before joining the MV team. During practice the organizers timed Hartle within a fifth of a second of Surtees, who set the fastest lap. “But the MV mechanics never got me that close,” says Hartle, who has now retired from racing and is running a very successful racing spares service. Time alone will tell whether Agostini on the “new” MV can beat Hailwood on the “new” Honda.
Mud is becoming the bane of winter moto-cross, especially at television meetings where after the first bend it is almost impossible to recognize the riders. This makes commentating and lap scoring a hazardous occupation, so when we arrived at Clifton last weekend for the latest TV do, it. looked as if all would be well since there was very little mud. But then fog descended, and marred what promised to be an interesting meeting — an International match against the Belgians. Joel Robert was in fine form, winning all his races wih consummate ease. His CZ easily had the edge on Smith’s BSA, but it was a team event, and Smith, Vic Eastwood, Dave Bickers and Alan Clough beat the Belgian quartet of Robert, Roger de Coster, Marcel Wiertz and Walter Baeten by 41 points to 30 over two races.
Smith has extended the lead at the head of the 500cc Grandstand Trophy table with four wins from four rides, while in the 250 class Chris Horsfield has taken the lead from Bickers by 24 points to 23. Bickers will not renew his Greeves contract and speaking to him at Clifton he said he would freelance in 1966, his main aim being the 500 world title. He does not yet know what he will ride but for that meeting had a works CZ, a marque he has ridden before. Oil contracts could play a part here and he could end up with a Metisse.
Still on the moto-cross front, but on the other side of the world, Hugh Anderson — better known as a road race champion — has been showing his New Zealand countrymen the way around on his 250 Husqvarna, winning his class for four meetings in a row. He is also doing well out there on a Matchless Metisse. Readers will recall that it was a moto-cross injury that prevented Hugh from riding in the East German GP last season. He was New Zealand scrambles champion before coming to Europe for his road racing career, and there is little doubt that when he retires from road racing he will become a force to be reckoned with on the rough.
There has been no such letup for Jim Redman and Luigi Taveri, or for Lewis Young for that matter, as the three of them have been racing in South Africa. At the recent Dickie Dale Memorial Trophy meeting, Redman took the honors though hard pressed by Kirby Matchless-mounted Young. Redman had a 305cc CR-77 Honda Twin, as did Taveri, though Luigi was not very happy with the handling by all reports. Two-fifty class winner was Bruce Beale on a Honda. Then at the New Year’s Day meeting at East London, Redman was again the 350 class winner on his Honda, and Luigi gained his first win in the 250 race on a Honda twin. The 500 Class was won by Ian Burne (Norton) from Young (Kirby Matchless). At both these meetings Okie Howard (Matchless) was making his presence felt; it will be interesting to see how he goes if he comes to Europe.
After the British Experts’ trial, the country divides itself for two more Experts titles in the simplest possible way — northern and southern. Mick Andrews on the James took the Northern Title by a solitary mark from Paul England (Bultaco), who had a one-mark lead over third placeman Dave Rowland (BSA). The sidecar class was an easy win for Peter Wraith (Ariel). In the Southern battle Sammy Miller (Bultaco) emerged the victor by five marks from Don Smith (Greeves), with three men totalling 56; they were Derek Adsett (Greeves), Arthur Dovey (Bultaco) and Gordon Farley (Triumph). Adsett has already had big national wins this season, and it will not be long before Farley and Dovey hit the top. Ron Langston (Ariel) repeated his British Experts form to take the sidecar class for the fifth year running.
Sammy Miller has now organized a team of three Bultaco riders to enter the big trade-supported national events, and in addition to himself has chosen Norman Eyre and Gordon Blakeway. Eyre is a good “top twenty” man and Blakeway an ex-Triumph and AJS teamster. While this trio stands a very good chance of success, I think Dovey and England, liad they been chosen would have ridden to the occasion and within twelve months welded into an almost unbeatable team. At the moment Miller’s superb riding can carry a team, but good young blood is required to plan for the future, and those two would have been just the pair to do it. ■
