Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
ROAD RACING OUTLOOK
With Mike Hailwood having decided to go car racing this year, it looked as if two of the 1968 grand prix aces would be missing this season. But Bill Ivy (who so determinedly retired last year and bought a Formula IV racing car) has had second thoughts and signed to ride the Jawa four-cylinder 350-cc two-stroke in the world championship series, when it does not clash with his car racing. This will certainly make the 350 class the most interesting of the solo championships, assuming Phil Read gets a Benelli. With Agostini battling it out, too, the crowds will flock to the race circuits. Add Pasolini for good measure, and it’s all systems go.
Phil Read’s 500-cc mount, the ReadWeslake, has made its initial run. Nothing spectacular, just low speed testing to carry out carburetion checks and exercise the five-speed gearbox designed by the Weslake concern. There obviously is no intention of rushing things, so it looks as if it will be some weeks before high speed track testing starts in earnest. Then the aim will be to have it race-worthy for the TT.
DERBI BUILDS NEW 50
As usual, the first European interna tional road race of the season was held at Alicante in Spain. With it came a prom ising start for the Spanish Derbi factory, which is aiming for the world 50-cc road race title. To that end they have built a new single-cylinder machine with six speeds which conforms to the FIM formula. Angelo Nieto raced it to victory, with similarly mounted Barry Smith in 2nd place. Local hero Santiago Herrero also raced one and broke the lap record, but later retired. He race an Ossa in the 250 event which he won, exceeding the lap record set last year by Bill Ivy on a Yamaha Pour (or was there less sand in the timer this year?).
The Derbi factory effort is not confined to the 50 class. Nieto completed the double with a win in the 125 race on the works air-cooled two-stroke V-twin. To complete the day’s racing, Gilberto Milani (Aermacchi H-D) won the 350 from Tommy Robb, who, similarly mounted, was having his firsjl ride on such a machine.
DUNSTALL REVAMPS 750
All set to create a stir on the British short circuits soon after the season starts is Paul Dunstall. During the winter he has strengthened the frame for his big beefy 750 Norton racer and also modified it, so that the engine is 0.75 inch lower. But the one to sock ’em in the aisles is a completely new design with massive 3-in. diameter top and rear downtube in 17-gauge T45 tubing, with 1-in. diagonal twintubes from the steering head to the bottom of the rear downtube. The engine will hang in the frame with a head steady from the toptube. Massive engine plates will support it from the rear, there being no front support to the engine at all. A high level exhaust will be employed. With this system it is estimated that the first thing to ground when cornering hard will be the timing case. The downtube will hold four pints of oil, the same as used at present with a conventional oil tanksufficient for short circuit work. The toptube acts as an enormous breather. Weight of the new frame is 20 lb., a saving of 4 lb. on the old design. It will mean that the engine is 1.5 in. lower than the ’68 frame. Object of the exercise is to attain greater rigidity, particularly when winding it on through corners. The results of a season’s racing will decide whether it is to become yet another addition to the Dunstall range of goodies.
GREEVES GRIFFON
Greeves has announced new 250and 380-cc motocross models, both of which are called Griffon. The former is finished in blue and the latter in red. Immediately obvious is the tubular frame, which does away with the traditional alloy down beam; this is replaced by a single downtube in Reynolds 531 tubing, as is all the frame.
But the biggest step forward concerns the gearbox and clutch, which are now made by Greeves. Weight is 9 lb. lighter than the previous proprietary unit. It also is narrower. The selector mechanism is housed between the crankcase and gearbox. There has been no reduction in shaft and gear sizes. The reduction in width will be noted with smiles by the trials boys, who will be after that improvement for their machinery. The clutch is a new all-metal, multi-plate unit with high torque capacity.
Power output claims at the crankshaft are 39 bhp for the 380 at 7000 rpm, and 28.5 for the 246 model at 7500 rpm. Exhaust systems for both are ‘‘up and over,” the 250 having a single exhaust port and the 380 having twin ports which lead to a single expansion chamber. The 360, at 227 lb., is 1 1 lb. heavier than the 250. Both have a 10-in. ground clearance.
TV MOTOCROSS
The television motocross scries draws to a close. For the national network 250 and 750 Grandstand Trophy contests, all will depend on the last round, which will be held in three weeks. At the last round, Malcolm Davis jumped back into the limelight with a win in the 250 race on his works AJS. His teammate, Andy Roberton, was 3rd behind Vic Allan (Greeves). Alan Clough (Husqvarna) could do no better than 4th, so now he shares the lead with Davis. Both have scored 26 points. In 3rd place is Arthur Browning with 15, but he cannot catch the leaders. However, with a few ifs and buts, Browning could end up tied in the 750 class with John Banks. But the likelihood is remote, as Banks led a BSA 1-2-3 win at the last meet and is in top form. He already has sewn up the commercial channel World of Sport trophy, which is run on different lines than the national competition. The former has two races each meeting, both scoring for the one trophy. The latter events have two different capacity races and score independently.
At the World of Sport Trophy meeting, Banks made sure of the trophy with a win in the first race. Conditions were extremely difficult, with snow, ice and a layer of mud over the frozen ground. Big surprise was the form of Dave Bickers, competing for the first time since his trip to the States, where he raced in Californian warmth. He showed sparkling form, finishing 2nd to Banks in the first race, then hurtling away at the start of the second to build up a big lead in one lap. He was never caught by Banks, who was 2nd. Nobody could match the form of these two, though Jeff Smith (BSA) had a 3rd and a 4th place to prove he can still show ’em the way home. The only other rider to figure more than once in the first six was Arthur Browning, out on the 250 Greeves Griffon for the first time. He had two 5ths.
EUROPEAN WARMUP
The first big continental international is the St. Anthonis meeting, to be reported in full next month. Some of the aces to be involved had a warmup at Lummen in Belgium recently. Only Christer Hammargren, the works Husqvarna rider on a 420-cc model, will be wishing it was a championship meeting, for he won both races to finish 1st overall. Maico mates Adolf Weil and Ake Jonsson were 2nd and 3rd in the first leg, but both fell second time out. John Banks retired in the first race, but stormed back second time out to finish runner-up to Hammargren. However, in the final classification, Sylvain Geboers (380 CZ) got 2nd place from a 5th and 3rd with Jonsson 3rd overall.
FARLEY SHINES
On the bogwheeling side, it has been Gordon Farley’s month and his best performance was in Ireland, where he took on Sammy Miller on Sammy’s home ground and topped him in the rough and tough time-and-observation Hurst Cup trial.
The Miller Man had won the event for the past 12 years, so perhaps superstition and the wee folk had something to do with the result. Farley won the premier award by 10 marks. He lost 41 on observation and set standard time, but had Super Sam beaten without the time factor. Miller lost 46 on observation.
A few weeks earlier, Farley, mounted as usual on his Montesa, took the Colmore Cup, with a loss of 51 marks. Veteran Roy Peplow (Bultaco) was 2nd with 58 and Derek Adsett (Greeves), 3rd, lost 67. Best of the sidecars was Ray Round (441 BSA) with brother Derekin the chair. They lost 44 marks to score a narrow victory over Roy Bradley (Ariel) who was 3 marks behind.
The only other national event held, the Suffolk Mardle trial, was a real needle match between Mick Andrews (Ossa), Adsett and Farley. Victory went to Adsett by a single mark from Andrews, the scores being 39 and 40. Farley was 3rd with 43, just a single mark ahead of Don Smith (Montesa), who has his heart set on regaining the European trials championship. It now is a two-horse race between him and Dennis Jones (Suzuki). Though there are two rounds to go, the result should be known next month after the British round.
BRANDS REPORT
On a dull, bitterly cold day, Yankee Marty Lunde (Yamaha) started the British road racing season for 1969 in great style with a 2nd place in the 250-cc final. He had qualified with a 2nd place in his heat, after a not-so-successful outing in the 125 race, with 13th place on his Honda. The meeting was run over the club circuit at Brands Hatch. John Ringwood won the 125 on a MZ, and Rod Gould (Yamaha) surpassed Lunde in the 250.
The only real surprise was in the 350 where Pat Mahoney (Aermacchi H-D) had the legs over Alan Barnett (Kirby Metisse) with no one else in the hunt. In the larger capacities, Dave Croxford (Seeley) won the 500 race after a good scrap with Ray Pickrell (500 Domiracer) who went on to win the big final on a 750-cc model.
Dave Chapman nearly lost the 1070-cc Mini in his heat, but went on to win the final of the three-wheeler event with Norman Hanks and Rose Arnold (670 BSA) 2nd.
So the 1969 season has started with a meeting that had both riders and spectators wondering why on earth we bother so early in the year, when it can be of little enjoyment to either race or watch.
RALLY IN THE MAKING
Perhaps it has been inspired by the Baja run or the London-to-Sydney car rally, or was it just genius? Whatever gave him the idea, ex-Suzuki boss in the U.K., Alan Kimber, has certainly hit on something with his idea of a ’round Europe motorcycle rally over a super-tough course through as many countries as possible. The main aim behind the idea is to project the motorcycling image to the public. Already dubbed the Turkey Trot, as that country could be the farthest point in the event, Kimber envisages a schedule of around 350 miles a day with two riders per machine and an entry fee in the region of $120. It would be on a strict time schedule, running for 10-14 days, with a 1st prize of $12,000. He estimates that about $36,000 would be needed to run the rally, and is busy looking for sponsors. It would be an international event and, to be successful, full cooperation, virtually at government level, would be necessary. This seems to be the sort of event in which Americans could start on equal terms with European competitors. Those who have braved the Baja run could have a distinct advantage. If the idea gets off the ground, full details will be given in this column in the hope that someone will sponsor an American entry.
