Late News From England
LATE NEWS FROM ENGLAND
B. R. NICHOLLS
FED up and forced into action would aptly describe the motorcycle movement in this country at the moment. Already organized to fight bad publicity under the Motorcycle and Scooter Council the recent smallpox outbreak really gave motorcyclists a chance to shine in the public eye. Urgent calls for vaccine had to be answered at a time when the postal service was subject to a work to rule strike so the Council organized a dispatch rider service for delivery of the vaccine from the headquarters in Birmingham. Purely voluntary and paying for their own petrol and expenses, riders put themselves on call at all hours of the day and night and performed a wonderful service which earned the praise and gratitude of the medical profession and public alike. Some volunteers were complaining because they were not required to do a trip as a “mercy rider”, this being the apt name that was given to them. As a result of the emergency a delivery service is p'anned that will enable hospitals to call upon motorcyclists at any time where , an emergency arises and drugs require special delivery.
Slowly but surely we are educating our public that all motorcyclists are not morons and there are definite signs that progress is being made. National daily papers gave good coverage to the “mercy riders” mentioned above and twice in two weeks a peak period radio serial has given good propaganda in our favour, the best point being made that our accident figures had gone down whilst those for cars increased and another was that out of 20,000 cases of drunken driving only 100 were motorcyclists. Come to think of it a drunken motorist is a potential killer but how far would a drunk get on a cycle?
Pity the poor columnist trying in all good faith to give his readers an accurate survey of what is happening or likely to happen in the near future. He may contact a manufacturer and ask “will you contest the championship this year?” “Yes”, says the manufacturer and all the papers report that fact. But nobody has asked the gentlemen who matters and in the case in point that rider was Dave Bickers. Dave who virtually on his own rode his Greeves for the past two seasons against the best the world had to offer for the 250cc Moto-Cross Championship has had enough. Who can blame him? The physical and more important mental strain is fantastic so Dave will ‘rest’ at home this year and give his fans in England the chance to see him regularly. With no Bickers to contend with the task of the B.S.A. riders will be made a little easier and to prove the point Arthur Lampkin won the first round of the 1962 contest held in Spain under appalling conditions on the 25th of February. His team mate Jeff Smith finished third but tucked in between them was the Italian champion Lanfranco Angelini riding a works Aer Macchi machine. For the meeting “sunny Spain” was definitely missing as it rained throughout and was cold as well.
With moto cross already under way the tempo for the road racer is stepping up and slowly but surely we can see what might happen. As ever Honda are top of the news page with a bored out 250cc to contest the 350 World title, the exact size of which is not known but under 300cc. More important is the fa'ct that Bob McIntyre has signed for Honda and will not now be available to ride the Bianchi. There is a strong possibility that ex Norton and Gilera team man Reg Armstrong will be the Honda race manager.
Derek Minter, the first man to lap the Isle of Man on a Norton at over one hundred miles per hour, rode the Bianchi during the 1960 season but it was an unhappy association inasmuch as he never really got motoring on it. Bianchi might try to get him back for 1962 but Derek has quite a bit on his plate already. In the 125cc class he will ride the British E.M.C. two-stroke, the only British machine with much hope of winning a world title. In the next class he has the only private Honda 4 for use only on the short circuits and of course he will be Norton mounted in the 350 and 500cc events. There are many who contend that one man cannot do justice to all four classes; Mike Hailwood and Tom Phillis stand out as exceptions to the rule. Proof of Mike’s ability lies in the three wins he had last year in the Isle of Man when he set an all time record with 125, 250 and 500 class wins and the World 250cc title.
It would be unfair to the bogwheelers not to mention them in this column especially as at the moment one rider stands out above them all. The man is Sammy Miller and his name in the trials world has almost become a legend. In a period of eleven days from February 24th to the 4th of March he won four major trials. One, the Hurst Cup, took place in Northern Ireland, the next two in England and the last in Belgium was the Belgian Experts Trial. His nearest rival is A.J.S. ace Gordon Jackson the only man to win the British Experts title three times and a rider who has a particular affinity to the Scottish Six Days Trial which he has won on four occasions. Miller rides the now defunct 497 Ariel but it is a much modified and lightened special now. Miller has yet to win the “Scottish” and makes no secret that it is his one wish to do so. Will he do it in 1962? The first week in May will give the answer.
