Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
STARS OF TOMORROW
Any road race season that lasts for eight months seems endless, but mercifully the 1972 one has finally ebbed away with the annual “Stars of Tomorrow” meeting at Brands Hatch.
There is something almost desperate about the riding of many that compete. It’s as if winning would give them a works MV contract to ride alongside Agostini next year, though nothing is less likely to happen. It makes for good viewing, but does not impress the hardheaded judges deciding who might be a star of tomorrow because they consist of dealers who in some cases are looking for future riders.
With armco barriers making eac^P crash that much more expensive in bike damage it is the stylist that is more likely to impress than the hell-bent-forleather type that sometimes provides a winner.
In one race, no less than five riders crashed, including the winner, who slid to earth on the second lap and then remounted and forced through the field to win.
One or two riders quite obviously should not have been riding by virtue of the vast experience they already have in racing or the fact that they had borrowed very good machinery and the helmet colors were very close to those of established aces.
Quite frankly, I saw no solo star in the making, which probably means half a dozen world champions of the latj^ ’70s were there. But, what did impre^P was the high standard among the sidecar boys. This class used to be the field into which solo stars migrated when they found that being a senior citizen solo racer was hard work. Now, specialization has meant that to beat the world, one has to start on three wheels at an early age. No rider really dominated the class, but Dave Kruse with a Weslakepowered outfit had a win and deadheated for 2nd place in his other race. He also looked good in traffic when involved in a scrap with three other outfits in the race that he won. Kruse is a definite prospect.
It was a meeting that catered to all the usual classes and for good measure also had both a vintage race and one for Bantams. After hearing the screaming two-strokes, it was good to listen to tty^ sound of the 1930s as represented Nortons, Rudges, Velos, Triumphs and the like. The race was won by John Wilkinson on a 1937 Norton at a speed of over 67 mph.
There is quite a measure of support for the Bantam races over here. There is even a special Bantam Racing Club. It provides the opportunity for very cheap racing within strict limitations as to what tuning can be done to both frame and engine. All the racing takes place at club level. Nevertheless, with the right tuning and within the right class in the club, the little 125 BSA engine can be souped up and made capable of speeds around the 100 mph mark.
RACE OF THE SOUTH
Earlier in the month the final big meeting of the season took place at Brands when the Race of the South was eld. Star attraction was not, as in revious years, the Italian world champion Agostini, but the Anglo-American setup of Paul Smart and the Team Hansen Kawasaki. Bike and rider were flown back to England after the Ontario success, but there was to be no victory on his home ground for Smart.
His first race was in the Evening Ne ws-sponsored Race of the South where he was up against the John Player Norton team and the works BSA/Triumphs, out for the last time before quitting racing as reported last month.
Smart made a good start with John Cooper (Triumph) just behind him and the pack in hot pursuit. But halfway around that opening lap, Cooper lost it on the 100 mph Westfield bend and instantly detuned his pursuers. As a consequence, Smart had a good lead at ihe end of the first lap with Peter illiams and Phil Read chasing on J. P. Nortons.
Then, when ignition trouble started to take the edge off the Kawasaki’s performance, Read slowly overhauled Smart and then Barry Sheene (Yamaha) also got the message and took over 3rd place. Just when it looked as if the Kawasaki had sorted itself out, it blew an oil seal and limped into 2nd place behind Read while Sheene had even worse luck. His engine died as he started the last lap, and that let Williams in for 3rd place.
Read had another victory in the 250 race when he beat Tony Rutter and Mick Grant. Grant was also 3rd in the 350 race won by Cooper. Sheene was 2nd after one of the most blatant start iers I have ever seen. Sheene was not e only guilty one, but certainly gained most as he “wheelied” away in a most crowd-pleasing style.
Victory came for Sheene in the 500 race where the first five places were filled by overbored Yamahas. Now that class is as big a noise pollutant as the 250 and 350. Racing two-strokes without doubt will lead to all machines having to be silenced if racing is to continue. Ear damage to those in close proximity to racing two-strokes is probably a bigger danger than we realize and this could mean that when it is realized, permanent damage may already have been done. Soon the “less sound” chant may have a new ending.
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There were two sidecar races at Brands, each over five laps with the race result decided by overall placing. Chris Vincent made no mistake on the fourcylinder Munch. He won both races using the 750cc power unit and was chased home both times by the BritisS^Ä 1972 sidecar champion Norman Hank^^ (750 BSA).
But, the main event of the day was the final round of the Motor Cycle News-sponsored Superbike Championship. This is a season-long affair run on Yankee lines inasmuch as all races are clutch starts, there are fastest lap bonuses, and prizes for the leader of each lap. Just to add interest to the final meeting and to lessen the chance of the championship being decided before the end of the series, double points are awarded at the final round and that was the way Cooper sneaked the title from Ray Pickrell, still hospitalized after his horrible crash at Mallory last month.
Cooper turned out with a badly gashed hand and sore ribs after his crash earlier in the day and as he ended th^^ first lap in 5th place it seemed that thl^P crash was having its effect. But he slowly gained the measure of the opposition and by half distance was up to 3rd behind Read and Williams. Smart was on the sidelines as the Kawasaki had given up the ghost and would not even start in the warm-up area.
When Cooper took 2nd place from Williams, it was anyone’s guess whether Read would be able to hold him at bay, though for a while it looked as if he would. But it was not only a race win that Cooper was after, for $1200 was at stake, and that can inspire a man.
Cooper made it with a lap to go and hard though he tried to get his second win of the day, Read could not regain the lead. Williams was 3rd. The third member of the J.P. Norton team was stopped from making it 2-3-4 by Davj^ Potter on the Kuhn Norton wh^^ snatched 4th from Mick Grant.
These last two have featured in end of season awards that mark them down as aces to be watched in the future. Grant has been made B.P. Man of the ^ear while Potter was 2nd in the Grovewood award series won by Paul Cott with sidecar driver George O’Dell 3rd.
Cott has finished 3rd in both the 350 and 500cc British road race titles this year while Grant took the 350 crown and lost the 500 to Jim Harvey when his Yamaha blew a big end in the final meeting.
Dave Potter won the 750 title in the first year that this class has been contested. It seems ironic that Superbike series success almost passed him by, though he did finish 5 th and win the dealer-entrant award for Gus Kuhn.
Most successful rider in our championships was Steve Machin, who got both 125 and 250 titles and finished 2nd in the 350 class. But nobody has even looked like they’re getting near the record Hailwood once set when he took >ur solo titles in one season.
WADE/ROBERTON TAKE MX TITLES
On the motocross front, Bryan Wade has won the 500 title and Andy Roberton has taken the 250 class. Andy, incidentally, is still keen on contesting the world championships but there is little chance of Wade attempting to do battle with the world’s best unless it is in the British rounds of a title or in one of the team events.
He is upset at the moment with the A-C.U. anyway as he has been banned under the noise regulations for two weeks under a system where if a rider gets four tickets for exceeding the regulation decibel limit he is automatically banned. He rode for Great Britain in the Motocross des Nations but thinks he
Kould have been stopped from riding in at event as he says he had already had four tickets before that date although it would seem he was not officially reported for two of them.
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100-MILE TEAM SCRAMBLE
The ban stopped him from riding in the unique 100-mile team scramble which was held on a tough, bumpy course at Pirbright and sponsored by the monthly magazine Motorcycle Mechanics m conjunction with the Duckhams oil concern. Each team consisted of two riders riding two separate machines if they wished upon which they and mechanics were allowed to work during the race. The rider in the pits was not allowed to go out and race until he was wearing a numbered bib that had to be worn for the lap scorers to note the rider racing. If a rider broke down away from the pit area he could leave the machine for the mechanics to collect while he got the bib back to his teammate. Good teamwork on bib changing saved some teams a lot of time.
What could have been a procession turned out to be a very exciting race as the lead changed three or four times, though always contested by an allBultaco turnout of Vic Allan and Malcolm Davis and CZ-mounted John Banks and the Husqvarna of Ivan Miller. A single machine pairing was obviously more sensible as it would enable a manufacturer to use the win for advertising. In that way, Bultaco was lucky, for it was the Allan/Davis pairing that won after over three hours of racing by less than a lap from Banks/Miller, with Vic Eastwood (AJS) and Rob Taylor (Maico) 3rd.
There were 32 starters and the use of two machines meant that only six teams dropped out during the race. Using one bike only, the team of John May and Keith Baker (Monark) finished in 11th place with the bike looking capable of another 100 miles without any attention at the finish.
Watching the race was British ISDT team manager Ken Heanes, who reckoned that if only it was held earlier in the year it would make excellent training for the Six Days team riders.
A GOOD OLD THUMPER
Ken has just come to the rescue of those competitors that yearn for the good old-fashioned single-cylinder four-stroke motocross machine, for he is marketing just such a bike. It has been appropriately named the Thumper. Disney fans will recognize that as the name of the rabbit in the film “Bambi” and that is the motif that will appear on the tank. A lot of thought went into the name and the copyright has been cleared with the Disney concern. Having gone to all that trouble over the name you can bet the bike got even more consideration, and it did.
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It is built around the 498cc BSA B50 motocross engine, a good old-fashioned thumping Single, slightly undersquare, with a bore and stroke of 84x90. It is housed in a nickel-plated Cheney frame that holds the four pints of engine oil with the filter horizontal under the engine.
Primary drive is by duplex chain, the final drive being 5/8x1/4 chain. Wheels and forks, hubs and brakes are standard BSA.
The gas tank is quickly detachable, being held by a single bolt at the head and an elastic at the saddle end. It holds 1.5 Imperial gallons and feeds the beast through a 932 Amal concentric carburetor. Air is filtered by a single element dry paper filter housed under the saddle.
It has an energy transfer ignition system and the weight of the machine is about 230 lb., which compares favorably with the FIM minimum of 209 which came into force on Jan. 1, 1973. The beauty of the machine is that it leaves plenty of scope for individuals to tune and lighten it as the engine is bog standard. Spares also will be no problem. Now for the all important question of cost which is so often a deciding factor.
The Thumper runs out at $1200 and if you want all the information, write Ken Heanes, 27/31 Reading Road, Fleet, Hampshire, England. The bike could be the basis of a first-class ISDT machine.
SCOTT TRIAL
Another event that could be good Six Days training is the annual Scott Trial which again falls at the wrong time of year to be useful for the purpose. It is a really tough event where the spectator sees little or none of the difficult parts which are high up on the boggy moorlands. However, it has been comparatively easy in recent years, as there has been a marked lack of rain in the month prior to the event. Still, it is the hardest trial in the calendar as it combines both speed and observation so that a rider has to strike that fine balance between speed and discretion, especially when faced by a section partly blocked by a stopped rider.
The team award was a triumph for Montesa, who had three of its riders in the first four.
Shepherd’s winning score of 47 was four better than runner-up Jack Galloway (Montesa) with Dave Thorpe (Ossa) on 66 and Rob Edwards (Montesa) 72. The event showed just how much better the Yorkshire riders are at present than their southern counterparts, for they took the first six places in the trial.
The reigning champion, Gordon Farley (Montesa) has not been riding well this season or maybe it is that others have improved a lot. Whatever it is, one thing is certain and that is that he is no longer in contention for the 1972 title.
That is now a fight between the present title hunt leader Malcolm Rathmell (79 points) and the Lampkin brothers (Alan at 73 and Martin 69). All three ride Bultaeo and Alan hoisted himself into 2nd place by winning the Greensmith trial with a loss of 25 marks; two less than Rob Shepherb, with Rathmell 3rd at 33. Martin Lampkin’s 7th place was a blow to his title hopes as it dropped him to 3rd, a full 10 marks behind Rathmell. With one round to go, it must be odds on Rathmell taking the crown, though nerves will certainly play a big part in the decider at the Knut trophy event next month.
Because of the time and observation factors, there are three main awards. One is for the best rider on time. Another is for the best on observation and the premier for the winner of the trial.
This year’s winner was one of those rare men who beat the clock and the sections to take all three awards and also collected the trophy for the best Yorkshireman. He was also a member of both the winning manufacturer and club teams. All that by Rob Shepherd, a 19-year-old, who had some of the more experienced bog wheelers looking a trifle embarrassed when the results were announced.
