Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
THE EARL'S COURT SHOW is reported else-where in this issue, but that does not preclude some reference to it in this column. General opinion seemed to be that despite a desperate economic situation, the industry had put on a brave display. Home viewers, being hard to please, were a little disappointed, whereas overseas visitors were impressed, especially if they were seeing it for the first time. Attendance on the first Saturday was down on the last show and set the trend for the week, total attendance being 106,797, compared with the 1964 figure of 129,331.
What were the impressions of a firsttime visitor? Who better to ask than Jim Bruflodt, Bob and June Leppan. Bob and Jim have been in business as Triumph De troit for some 10 years and have exhibited in the U.S. regularly during that period. This was their first London Show. They felt that the market place is essential to get the whole thing on a proper com mercial scale, but were surprised to find the stands often lacking a fully knowledge able staff. They would have liked to have seen more "winning" bikes, particularly specials like the record breakers at the recent Elvington meeting. Cutaway engines and components are invaluable; they par ticularly liked the demonstration models of the new Amal carburetor.
June was surprised to see so many flow ers and plants about the place and even a fountain, not to mention buildings that looked permanent instead of just there for a week.
All the gold medal winning ISDT Tro phy and Vase team bikes were on display, but here it was probably as well that no one was around to answer questions all the time, for how does one explain to BSA and Triumph owners that it was nec essary to put a Triumph engine in a Vic tor frame? Many visitors must have been disappointed to find that with such a classic engine, Triumph have not produced a five-speed gearbox. With their present interest in racing it must surely come soon, if they wish their efforts to be taken seriously.
Having got onto the subject of road rac ing, the next piece of news is just about the best for a long time. Daniele Fontana, whose double twin-leading-shoe front brake had been tried on the factory Triumph rid den by Percy Tait, has entered the more important field of engine design, and in talks with the Rickmans at the show, has agreed to let them have one of the initial batch of three new 500cc three-cylinder engine-gearbox units he has designed and is building in Italy. This will enable Fon tana to concentrate on the engine while the Rickmans attend to the frame and cycle parts. Fontana hopes that this will develop into the most sophisticated production rac er available, and Rickmans hope to have the engine by the end of January. It will look rather like the MV-3, have four valves per cylinder and is of double overhead camshaft design with a seven-speed gear box. initially, some 80 bhp is hoped for at around 13,000 rpm. No mention has been made of cost or likely riders, but if I were in the Rickmans' shoes, I'd want Frank Perris as the development rider.
With Tarquinio Provini making a slow recovery from his serious TT practice crash and unlikely to race again, Benelli hope to sign Renzo Pasolini for 1967. He is the gent that Agostini was trying to catch when he fell and broke a bone in his foot at the end of last season: on that basis, Count Agusta might think it better if Ren zo were MV-mounted for 1967. One of the most improved riders of 1966 was MZ ace Heinz Rosner, who will be riding the East German two-strokes again in 1967, when there will be a full capacity 3 50cc water-cooled twin to join the 250 model, and the three-cylinder 125 should make its long awaited first appearance. Teaming with Rosner will be Derek Woodman.
Threes seem to be popular nowadays, for Suzuki have been experimenting with one of 125cc, but it is no better than the twin, so has not been raced. Hugh Ander son expects to have tests at the factory during February, but will probably not make up his mind whether to race another season or retire until after the Spanish Grand Prix. No news is yet forthcoming about teammates for Anderson and Hans Georg Anscheidt, so if Hugh did retire, Suzuki could well be in trouble, unless they decide to go it alone with Anscheidt.
Derek Minter has still not recovered from his wrist injury sustained at the TT; if he is not fit enough to race bikes in 1967, he will join the Formula 4 car bri gade. John Hartle, the ex-Norton and MV works rider who retired two years ago af ter injury, has decided to make a come back and is already in serious training. So if he finds form, he won't be looking after his own bikes for long. Frank Perris awaits news from Italy about Gileras, while Peter Williams appears to have turned his back on factory overtures, having signed for BP. Yamaha are set to sign with Cas trol for next season and part of Bill Ivy's contract with the Japanese concern ties him to Yamaha machinery only for 1967.
A reminder of how soon the new season comes upon us is the decision by the ACU that times for silver and bronze replicas at the TT have been amended. Following the small number awarded in recent years because of the vast differential in works machinery and the private runner. Mike Hailwood suggested at the last prize-giv ing ceremony that instead of basing the awards on the winner's time, it should be done on the average of the first six home. As Agostini was 10 minutes in front of the 350 race, and Mike was about the same time ahead of third man in the 500, it seemed a good idea and has been adopt ed. So silver replicas will be awarded to all those finishing within nine eights of the average time of the first six home, and bronze on a basis of six fifths of that time.
Fine! But did anyone do any calcula tions? For by my reckoning, the new sys tem applied to the 1966 races would have meant that all the bronze winners in the Junior would have got silvers and the other six finishers a bronze. A similar situation would have arisen in the Senior where all the bronze winners would have received silvers, making 21 instead of 11, and nine bronze would have been awarded, only two riders who failed to average 80 mph not getting a replica. It looks as though an average of the first four home would have been more equitable and given the silver high prestige, so it will be interesting to see how it works in 1967; it certainly offers more encouragement to private runners. The news will probably make Maurice Candy and Byron Black curse a little, for under the new system, both would have won bronze reps in 1966.
B. R. NICHOLLS
Kelvin Carruthers, who spent 1966 finding his feet in Europe, having carried all before him in Australia, has agreed to ride a Matchless Metisse for Harry Thompson, well-known for his Suzuki conversions. Kel is another very impressed by the 350 Aermacchi, for he has one on order for the coming season.
Looks like Peter Inchley will be staying with Villiers, since he has been offered a five-year contract and a post in charge of motorcycle development. As he is an engineer who enjoys racing rather than the other way around, it is doubtful if MZ or Suzuki will entice him away. Inchley will have plenty on his plate, for he needs a frame for the proposed 250cc AJS road racer and Villiers are also hoping to get Freddie Mayes on the 250cc world motocross title hunt.
Earlier reports that Rolf Tibblin may ride works BSAs have been squashed, as the Swedish ace has now re-signed for CZ. This only serves to emphasize the shortage of top-class motocross riders, and BSA, continuing their search, have sent a works Victor to lanky Dave Nicoll for the winter television series to see how he gets on with it. Having ridden a big Matchless up to now, the smaller BSA should be an easier ride, though his height of six-footfour may prove a disadvantage as the photo shows. Fortunately for Lito, Sweden has some young stars, but it is doubtful that they are capable of really gunning that new 500cc machine.
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In the latest international television scramble, Belgium proved no match for the British team, and were well and truly ploughed into the Cheshire mud of the Hatherton Hall circuit. Brilliantly led by Arthur Browning on a single-port 360 Greeves in the first race and by Vic Eastwood, 440 BSA, in the second, the British team filled four out of the first five places in each race. Only Joel Robert, CZ, with two third places, stopped a complete whitewash of the Belgian team. Clough and Mayes completed the British team as Dave Bickers was unfit with food poisoning. The following day, Dave, with virtually nothing to eat for three days, went to Brands Hatch for the Scramble of the Year and completely swept the board. Mounted on a 400cc CZ he won all his four races, beating such international stars as Mogens Rasmussen, Rolf Tibblin, Olle Pettersson and Joel Robert.
The big trophy of the day was fought out over two legs and the dashing Dane Rasmussen had as safe a second place as Dave had in the lead. With his best ride to date, Jim Aim took the Kirby Metisse into third overall. Getting the hang of the BSA, Nicoll had two fourths in supporting races. Bickers is right on top form at the moment, for he leads both 250 and 750 TV Grandstand trophy classes with maximum points.
Watching at Brands was Giacomo Agostini, who seemed to think it an excellent way to keep fit. The following day he was finding out about getting a 360 Greeves - something to make the Count think!
Tragedy of the Brands meetings was the crowd — 3,000 is a ridiculously small number for an international event within easy reach of London. So rather than incur any further losses the organizers have dropped motocross from their calendar.
Bob Leppan presented the trophy to Dave and spent some time in the paddock chatting to ISDT star and scrambles ace John Giles. As a result, some goodies should be on the way from the States, for Bob was amazed to learn that Giles Triumph engine was virtually standard. Small wonder they cannot get near the CZs. At the moment. John has an interesting experiment on the boil; he has adapted a Triumph engine so that both cylinders fire together, creating the effect of a single. The boffins can theorize on the result of this arrangement and someone is bound to have done it before; it remains to be seen whether it is a better tool for muddy events than the conventional twin.
Don Smith continues his continental winning way. Having taken his Greeves to Paris for the international St. Cucufa trial, and losing 11 marks, he emerged the winner by two from Sammy Miller, with French champion Christian Rayer, Greeves third with 19 lost — one in front of similarly mounted Jim Sandiford. Gustav Franke, Zundapp, was fifth with 24 lost. The week before this event, Miller won both the Hoad and Perce Simon events. In the first named, Ron Langston gained the verdict in the sidecar class from Peter Wraith, having cleaned more sections, though they were equal on marks lost. In the Perce Simon a new name came to the fore when Colin Laver, Ariel, beat Langston for the sidecar award.
Then came the 32nd British Experts trial at Llandrindod Wells in central Wales. Fewer than 40 riders had qualified to compete, and in the regulations, the organizing Birmingham club warned that the course would be of exceptional severity. First run in 1929, the Experts is the blue ribbon of the trials world, open only to qualified riders and based on events that have taken place during the preceding 12 months. As a general rule, the most consistently suc cessful trials riders have been the British Experts each year, but the unexpected is always likely to happen. The most recent example of this was back in 1960, when Bill Wilkinson, the youngest competitor (still bearing the "L" plates required, as he had not passed a driving test), took the solo award and Bill Slocombe, the oldest in the trial, won the sidecar class. Such re sults tend to take away the validity of the title "British Expert" and a much truer pictute of the top trials exponents is gained from the annual championships started by the ACU in 1950.
The overwhelming supremacy of one time Ariel teammates Sammy Miller and Ron Langston throughout the sixties is something never remotely approached in earlier years. Miller has won the ACU championship eight times in succession and Langston, five. In 1966, Miller gained three times the number of points obtained by runner-up Gordon Farley. Sammy has a reputation for riding with grim determi nation, never speaking to spectators and barely acknowledging friends, so it was a surprise to see the one time road racing ace chatting and in high spirits during the Experts trial. Small wonder, for he was in the most devastating form ever known, losing a mere 22 marks to the 50 or run ner up Mick Andrews. Both were Bultaco mounted.
Third best solo was Derek Adsett, Greeves, with 60, one mark ahead of Don Smith. Thesn came Paul England, Tri umph; John Ashcroft, Greeves; Gordon Farley, Triumph; and new boy Dennis Jones, Sprite - covered by a spread of seven marks. The 1965 winner, Scott Ellis, finished in 15th place and the Lampkin brothers, who have been so successful re cently, even lower down. With such names as Peplow and Sayer not even qualifying for the trial this year, and with such young riders appearing in the top ten, it is obvious that the new boys are going to assert themselves in 1967. But it will be awhile before they shake the supremacy of the Miller man.
The sidecar struggle was dramatic, for at one section all were in trouble with a large rock that took great toll of gear levers. Langston had over-calculated his marks lost, and when he and Alan More wood arrived at the last section, thought he was well down on Alan's total. Morewood sailed through without penalty and Langston stopped to lose the crown that had been his for the past four years by five marks.
Miller made history as the only soloist to win the title four times and, at the same time, became the only man ever to win on a foreign machine.
0rpm water-cooled conversion for Greeves Silverst one road racers is avail able, costing $130 in the United Kingdom. This includes supplying the radiator, tem perature gauge, piping and all the bits and pieces for modifying the frame. The only snag, as far as any American is concern ed, is that Reg 0rpm wants your barrel, unless you can get the Greeves factory to supply him one direct. Reg tells me that work is well advanced on the Velo racer and extended tests will soon be taking place in France at the Monthlery circuit near Paris.
