Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B. R. NICHOLLS
LAST SEASON Honda made a half-hearted defense of the titles they had won the previous year and paid the penalty by losing out. This season they have come back with a vengeance, much to the delight of the school who say that a good four-stroke will always beat a good two-stroke. Honda proved the point very convincingly at the Dutch meeting where they won all the classes that they entered, and for Jim Redman there was the personal satisfaction of a hat trick.
How long will the four-stroke continue to hold its supremacy if, in fact, it is supreme? Time alone will answer that one but it was a very close thing at the Dutch in the 250 class, and with the fifties Hugh Anderson was put out by ignition trouble. Big surprise in the 125 class was the Yamaha which finished second on its first outing ridden by Phil Read, whilst the meeting gave Ralph Bryans his first classic win, fully justifying Honda’s signing of this brilliant twenty-three-year-old Irishman. Another first time classic winner was Colin Seeley and Wally Rawlings in the sidecar class (apologies for calling him Bill in the last report) who won with the F.C.S./B.M.W. outfit.
But when talking road racing it is the 250 class that always takes pride of place these days, and two-stroke enthusiasts can take heart for it will not be long before the Yamaha and Suzuki devices really assert themselves. It could well be that the Ulster Grand Prix will see the turning point in this classic battle. Short circuit racing has been overshadowed by the classics recently, but John Cooper (with his Nortons) continues to show top form and after only two previous meetings at the circuit went to Brands and chased local ace Derek Minter hard all the way. Minter won on each occasion but Cooper’s real moment of glory came at the Mallory meeting held two days after the Senior T.T. when he won both the 350 and 500cc race finals at record average speed.
It was a real record day there, for Phil Read (Yamaha) made up for the disappointment of retiring in the 250 race in the Island by beating Alan Shepherd (M.Z.). In the heat Phil beat the five-lap record by over six seconds and then knocked five off the ten-lap figure in the final. Chris Vincent was another in a recordbreaking mood; his 650cc BSA sidecar outfit set a new lap record and knocked almost eleven seconds off his ten-lap race figure. It was quite a day for Chris as he had led the 125cc race for eight of ten laps on his Honda, only to be beaten by Shepherd (M.Z.), and then came a purler in the 250 race immediately prior to setting the new sidecar record lap figure.
But the road race meeting of most importance during the past month has been the Grand Prix d’Endurance, to give it its full blown title. It is better known as the Thruxton Five Hundred Mile race and is for production machines. Outright winner for the third time was the Norton Dominator 650cc SS entered by Lawton and Wilson. Phil Read was unable to ride in the event this year so Derek Woodman rode with Brian Setchell to give Setchell a third successive victory. It was no easy win though, for they finished only 41 seconds in front of a 650cc Triumph Bonneville ridden by Percy Tait and Fred Swift. Winners’ time for the five hundred miles was 7 hours, 11 minutes, 11.4 seconds. In third place were the 500 class winners, Alan Harris and Howard German riding a Velocette Venom Clubman; but the surprise result was the 250 class winner that finished seventh overall, an AJS 14 CSR. This machine was ridden by Peter Williams and Tony Wood at an average speed of 61.6 mph compared with the Setchell/Woodman speed of 69.6. Williams is the son of Jack Williams, the ex-A.M.C. racing chief who has been closely connected with the Tom Kirby special lightweight 350cc A.J.S. In such a gruelling event as this it made a pleasant change to see British machines win all the main awards.
The day after this event we had another long distance race, only of a different nature, the fifth annual 100 mile scramble. Dutchman Frits Selling riding a Greeves led all the way, beating Ken Heanes (Triumph) who has won twice in the past. Our leading lady, Mary Driver, surprised a lot of people by finishing in ninth place, a really great effort on her part.
Remember that protest by Jim Redman over the United States Grand Prix? Well, the F.I.M. found that his complaint was justified so he had his fee returned to him, but the results of the meeting must still stand since it was thought unfair to those who did attend to invalidate them; sound judgment indeed. Charges about the behavior of Redman, Shepherd and Hailwood during meetings held in 1963 have been dropped.
Following the latest ladies’ fashion of revealing a little more to the world in general, Paul Dunstall has put aside streamlining for short circuit racing as he feels (he gain is of no consequence. Whatever the technical arguments of this move, spectators and photographers will welcome it as to see the engine gives life to a photo and added interest to the onlooker, which I suppose is why the ladies are doing it!
Things are warming up for the big Anglo-U.S. drag duel; George Brown has been on the record trail again and with his blown lOOOcc Vincent Super Nero set a new standing start kilometer (approx. 5/8-mile) world record at 114.83 mph. In the sidecar class, Maurice Brierley with an even hairier beast than Brown’s, a 1 148cc supercharged Vincent called Methamon, raised the world 1200cc standing start kilometer sidecar record from 88.38 to 96 19 mph and the flying start to 138.51, compared to the old figure of 136.90 mph.
With nine events held in the 500cc moto-cross championship. Jeff Smith and Rolf Tibblin are tied at 54 points each, but with a rider’s best eight performances to count, Tibblin has the edge as his total is made up of six wins and a second place, whereas Smith has only three wins and five seconds. Tibblin can still add to his total any points scored in the next round, whereas Smith has to win to increase his.
Things are much more cut and dried in the 250 class where Joel Robert on the works CZ has 50 points, giving him a 16 point lead over Torsten Hallman (Husqvarna). In the British round of this title fight, Bickers had Robert beaten on speed but twice lost the lead because of trouble with the gear selector; nevertheless he won the first leg. Badly balked at the start of the second race. Bickers received a nasty mouth wound from a flying stone and though he fought through the field to second place, there was no catching Robert, who gained another eight points toward the title. Bitter disappointment to the fans was the absence of the Russians, but Grigoriev still keeps his third place in the championship table though Bickers’ six points moves him into fourth place. Big surprise of the round, though, was the excellent riding of Malcolm Davis, nineteen-year-old member of the Greeves works team. His name is known to readers of this column already, especially in the trials world, but few would have thought him capable of third place against world class opposition. The new Challenger Greeves finished in second, third, fourth and sixth places. •
