Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B. R. NICHOLLS
You CAN NOT KEEP Mike the Bike out of the news for long, certainly not when he puts on such a display of riding as he did at the Hutchinson Hundred meeting, which had been put back from April to August this year in an attempt to beat the weather and draw the crowds. It did get a fair attendance but it is impossible to beat the weather in England. The first solo race was for 350s and Bruce Beale caused a stir when he took the lead after a few laps on his 305cc Honda twin, but Phil Read soon whistled his 254cc Yamaha to the front. Both retired later so that the dogfight between John Cooper and Derek Minier on Nortons and Mike Hailwood (Kirby AJS) for third place suddenly became a white-hot battle for first with Hailwood taking the laurels from Cooper and Minier. Then came the rain and the 125cc race marked the first appearance of Toshio Fuji, the Suzuki rider-mechanic; he gained an easy, though wet, second place behind Hugh Anderson (Suzuki). Hans Georg Anscheidt had crashed his 125 MZ on the first bend and Frank Perris retired after a couple of laps with a broken crankshaft.
More rain fell for the production race which followed, giving the public the unusual sight of two world champions, Read and Hailwood, kick-starting their machines into action. The two, on a Triumph Bonneville and BSA Lightning respectively, were soon joined at the front of the race by Triumph factory test rider Percy Tait, also Bonneville-mounted. Through the rain they splashed with Hailwood finally gaining a lead, showing once again that it is the man and not the machine that makes the champion. Read was second and Tait third, places they also took later in the 250 race behind Mike Duff (Yamaha), Tait being on a factory Royal Enfield. Fifth place in the production race went to Paddy Driver (750 Matchless) whose antics keeping man and machine as one showed he would make an excellent sidecar passenger.
Chris Vincent won both the sidecar events though chased hard in the up-to1300cc class by Owen Greenwood and his mini-special, and by world champion Fritz Scheidegger in the 500cc class. Scheidegger's trailer had broken loose on the trip to the meeting but fortunately the streamlining had taken the brunt of the ensuing crash. At first Fritz thought the outfit did not handle as well without the fairing but after discussion with fellow sidecarrist Bill Boddice, agreed it was probably because he could see the dreadful motions the front wheel goes through on corners. Now Fritz seems convinced that advantages of not being streamlined outweigh those of having it, so it looks as if we could go back to the good old days where we see the bikes in the sidecar class and not just a large piece of fiber glass.
The premier award at the "Hutch" is the Mellano Trophy which now goes to the rider whose race average is nearest to or furthest in excess of the lap record for his class. The trophy was first awarded in 1925 when, incidentally, a Harley-Davidson took the honours. This year it was obvious that it would be an absolute giveaway for the 50s provided it was dry, as that class was only introduced last year and was then held in rain and sleet. Toshio Fuji and Chris Vincent on ex-factory Suzukis fairly streaked around with Fuji taking the race, lap record and Mellano trophy by over 10 mph. Fuji was in England last season as a mechanic on the factory racers but although he has done some speedway riding, had never road raced before this season. If he achieves his ambition to be a Suzuki works team man next year, the sparks should really fly.
The crowd looked forward to a renewal of the Vincent/Fuji battle again a couple of weeks later at the British championships but they were disappointed. In practice Fuji dropped it right in front of Vincent, though neither rider was seriously hurt. The bikes were extensively damaged, but by putting together all the good parts, they managed one machine for the race which Vincent rode to victory. It was a day of surprises for no factory Suzukis were competing in the 125 class so victory went to Dave Simmonds (Tohatsu). In the 250 class Phil Read dropped out when leading and Mike Duff took the laurels on his Yamaha. Read was also out of luck in the 350 race where he lost a lap changing plugs on the 254 Yamaha. Derek Minter and Dan Shorey on Nortons fought with Duff (AJS) throughout the race with "Banbury Dan," as the fans call him, getting his Ray Pettytuned Norton to the flag first. This has been Shorey's best-ever season and with his wealth of experience he must be bordering on a team ride. Bill Ivy took an early lead in the 500 race but hung around for Derek Minter (Norton) who had been left on the line. Minter carved through the field in magnificent fashion to catch Ivy but Bill showed once again that the Kirby Matchless is the fastest single-cylinder 500 in the country at the moment, winning by six lengths.
At both the Hutch and British Championship meetings a new 500cc racing twin was to have made its first competitive appearance but practice troubles prevented it. The machine weighs under three hundred pounds and is a DMW two-stroke twin. Now it looks as though there will be close cooperation between that firm and Royal Enfield in development of the idea, which could result in a very interesting production racer at a later date.
The weather has been unkind this summer and even the usually fine Italian Grand Prix took a right good drowning, the foul conditions leading to spills by Mike Hailwood, Bruce Beale, Ernst Degner and Alberto Pagani, of which only Hailwood escaped unhurt. The meeting confirmed Hugh Anderson (Suzuki) as 125cc world champion while the Yamahas in the 250 race were blown off by Tarquinio Provini on a re-vamped eight-speed Benelli four. Read incidentally being on a Yamaha four cylinder 250. For some unknown reason a sidecar class was included at the last minute and Fritz Scheidegger confirmed his right to the title by winning this extra round.
Hailwood won the 500 race and Giacomo Agostini the 350 on an MV which puts him level on points with Jim Redman, who stayed in South Africa as he thought he had no machine for Monza. It is almost unbelievable that such a mix-up could arise as did over this incident. Jim sent half a dozen cables from Durban asking Honda about machines for Monza and also tried phoning without success. His one reply said no machine for Monza when in actual fact it seems pretty certain that one was waiting for him at Milan airport. Someone must have been a bit cross-threaded along the line somewhere. Could it possibly be that what was meant to be said in the cable was no six available for Monza? We may never know. So the position now is that to win the 350 title Agostini must go to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix and win, with Hailwood tagging along in second place to keep Redman from that position which would give Jim the title. Of course, Yamaha could be the fly in Jim's ointment in that race if they prevented him from finishing first or second but an even more complicated twist is the growing rumor of "Hailwood for Honda in 1966," first mentioned in this column a couple of months ago. Mike could find himself in the unenviable position of riding for MV to prevent Honda winning a title when he will ride for them next year.
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While the road racers were paddling their way around Monza the moto-cross boys at Payerne in Switzerland were having an even worse time fighting out the 250cc Trophee des Nations team event. It should have been decided over two races but torrential rain reduced the course to a quagmire and obliterated numbers, making lap scoring virtually impossible. Whether an official result will ever be made known is doubtful for the meeting was abandoned after one race. The only interesting point to arise from it all was that the BSA factory team riders of Jeff Smith and Arthur Lampkin got into such bothers with their machines that they rode Bultaco Metisse machines borrowed from Don Rickman, who was prevented from riding by an injury sustained in practice.
The previous week the British team of Vic Eastwood, Arthur Lampkin, Don Rickman, Jerry Scott and Jeff Smith had won the Moto Cross des Nations 500cc team event by four points from Belgium. Derek Rickman was not riding but was nevertheless very active at the meeting, getting top riders to sign a petition to the FIM to prevent 360cc machines running in the same class as "true" five hundreds, which present a far greater racing spectacle than the overgrown 250s. It will be interesting to see the result, especially as Jeff Smith's title-winning BSA does not reach 450cc. It is, however, a real problem and there is little doubt that unless something is done, next year will see a 360cc-mounted champion in the 500 class. This year's runner-up was the East German ace Paul Freidrichs, who gained the place by his home win in the last round of the series. He is without doubt the find of the season, having won three rounds on his 360 CZ. In fact, six rounds were won by CZ, six by BSA and the other one by Lundin's Matchless Metisse. Now Greeves have jumped on the bandwagon and brought out a 346cc machine which Dave Bickers rode with distinction during the August Bank Holiday weekend, beating the 440cc Victormounted BSA team, including world champion Jeff Smith. It is known that DOT are also producing a big two-stroke, and it is also reported that the Rickman Brothers, never slow to recognize a market, are preparing to meet demand with the right size Bultaco. It is difficult to know where it will all end but not, one hopes, with death to the 500 four-stroke, for men scrambling these machines look as if motocross is their business, while the angry buzz of the ubiquitous two-stroke is almost annoying in its ever growing intensity. That, presumably, is the price of progress.
Cubic capacity is also under discussion in the road racing sidecar class where to be successful one must race the obsolete and very expensive BMW racing engine to stand any chance of winning. If the capacity was raised to 750cc, then many different units could be employed, spares for which are more readily obtainable and easier on the pocket. It is hoped to put a resolution to this effect before the FIM in time to alter the rules for next year.
The end of the season is always imminent when the national grass track championships are held and this year there are new champions in all classes. The meeting was a little sad as the greatest grass tracker of all time, Alf Hagon, announced his retirement. Racing was the closest and most exciting ever seen at a national and the finals were real thrillers with Don Godden taking the 500 title, having been beaten in the 350 class by Tony Black. JAP engines have always been the pace-setters in this sport, though the Emmott Matchless is now proving its equal in the hands of 19-yearold Malcolm Simmonds, a natural champion if ever there was. Dave Hunter (Triumph) took the sidecar title.
Can one man effect a change on the tastes of the motorcyclist? The answer must be yes if you judge by the results of Sammy Miller riding a Bultaco machine in trials. Where a year ago he was the only man on the marque, ten percent of the entry of the National Clayton trial held on the August Bank Holiday Sunday, were riding the Spanish two-stroke. Being light, robust and of good lines it looks as if its numbers will increase. However, the winner was the Greeves' ace Don Smith, with the sidecar award going to Alan Morewood on an Ariel. •
