Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B. R. NICHOLLS
THE WEATHER is still tops, with the statisticians telling us it is the worst since 1740 and that goes back a bit before motorcycles, but it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good and the freeze has been a boon to the sport in some respects. One television chief said they had never had such good sport as one of the T.V. scrambles produced. Plenty of viewing time has been given to scrambling and a new name has hit the headlines in double fashion. Chris Horsfield is the rider and his machine a Villiers-engined James two-stroke. But a machine with a difference, for it has the new Starmaker engine and how appropriate that young Chris should ride it. At one meeting he twice beat Jeff Smith, the BSA rider who finished runnerup in the 250 moto cross championship last year. James are part of the A.M.C. group that also consists of Norton, Match less, AJS and Francis Barnett and have recently launched into the scramble field and look set for a very good season. It is early yet and the present icy conditions need an element of luck as well as great skill, but to me James could provide the form upset of 1963 with a potential team of 24-year-old Horsfield, Vic Eastwood, who is twenty-one, and a brilliant eighteenyear-old newcomer, Dave Nicoll. The same three also ride Matchless in the bigger classes and seem equally at home on either big or small machine.
Following the fright he had at the St. Davids trial when he could have lost the event for being outside the time limit, Sammy Miller made no mistake at the Victory trial to win the second trade sup ported trial of 1963 with Ron Langston again the best sidecar. Miller had won the Belgian Experts' event the week before, narrowly beating Roy Peplow (Triumph 200cc) by one section. If that sounds peculiar an explanation of the marking system will soon clarify matters. Our sys tem is one mark for a dab with one foot only, three for more than a dab and five for stopping. The Belgians count the win ner as the man to clean most sections. Miller cleaned thirty and Peplow twentynine. This system of marking was also used in the first round of the newly-insti tuted Coupe d'Europe trials championship won by the British team. Individual win ner of this, the French round, was Bel gian Roger Vanderbecken riding a 200cc Triumph.
Only one well-known English rider com peted and that was Don Smith who fin ished in the runner-up position on his Greeves, having ridden in the Victory trial in England the previous day. In the team contest Belgium finished second, France third and Switzerland fourth. Re verting to the Victory trial, AJS works rider Gordon McLaughlan rode a new 400cc AJS to take the 500cc cup. A mix ture of parts this machine but the right idea for with a 74mm bore and 93mm stroke it is a good old fashioned long stroker ideal for trials plonking.
Aptly described as the grand old man of motorcycling, Rem Fowler died in his eighty-first year on the 13th of February from injuries he sustained in a fall the previous day. It was he who won the 1907 twin-cylinder class T.T. in the Isle of Man, the first ever held. His enthusi asm for the sport never waned and the motorcycle world is the poorer for his passing.
On the road racing front, plans for the 1963 season still seem to be in a state of flux with the season but five weeks away. Kreidler have decided to contest the 50cc championship again but so far Anscheidt, runner-up to Degner in the title last year, is the only rider signed for the season. The Mike Duff-M.Z. partnership seems more likely every day for Mike's Cahadian passport would prevent visa difficulties with NATO countries that have beset the M.Z. concern previously. If Mike does sign, and can get works mechanics to travel with him, then I think he will end the season as a world champion and so achieve his ambition.
What promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in 500cc grand prix road racing got its start when Derek Minter, riding the Italian-built four-cylinder 500cc Gilera, achieved within .6 mph of the rec ord lap set by John Surtees on the 500cc MV four at Monza in Italy of 119.49 mph. Gilera has agreed to loan ex-Gilera ace Geoff Duke machines for Minter and John Hartle to ride this season under the Scud eria Duke banner.
In the photo, courtesy Motor Cycle News, Hartle, Duke and Minter (seated) are shown at the all-important Monza tests.
Minter and Hartle apparently impressed the MV factory and Count Agusta so much that they have signed Mike Hail wood, Alan Shepherd and Silvio Grassetti in a formidable lineup to ride in the 250, 350 and 500cc categories. Hailwood could very well make the season a double vic tory as he will also be driving an Italian ATS grand prix car when not busy for MV.
The Honda set-up is made all very mys terious by a statement from the European Honda Company which says that its riders Redman, Robb, Taveri and Takahashi have been retained to ride the 1962 works machines in the 125 and 250cc classes. On the face of it it looks as if the 50cc twin raced at the Japanese Grand Prix will not be seen this season, which is very dis appointing as it won its class at Suzuka, and neither will Redman defend his 3 50cc title on. a Honda. There can be no doubt that supporting racing as• Honda have done over the past four years (their first suc cess was 125cc team prize in the 1959 T.T.) has cost a fantastic amount of money and now attention is being paid to the car world. The absence of Honda however, could mean a renewed interest by other manufacturers, especially Gilera for the 350 class. The all, important turn out of Gilera race ware, which is all 1957 vintage, has been delayed by bad weather. But as soon as Monza is fit for the tests then Geoff Duke will be there with Derek Minter and John Hartle in an endeavor to persuade Gilera that they could win a title in 1963. I think they are most likely to succeed in the 350 class, although they could take the 500 title as well. Rumor has it that there are two reasons for Duke going to Italy, the other being a seven days record attempt with a British car firm. Geoff never quite had the breaks in the car world but there is no doubt that he is an admirable choice for this sort of record attempt. •
