Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
SCOTTISH SIX DAYS TRIAL
Because of a postal strike at the time that entries should have been flooding in to Edinburgh for the 1971 Scottish Six Days Trial, entries were increased from 200 to 240. The decision immediately brought criticism that the larger number of entrants would make the trial unmanageable. As a partial solution, the course was made more severe for the first two days to eliminate the largest number possible. But, one factor upset all the calculations of both the knockers and the establishment: The always unknown factor of British weather. It was super, the best for over 20 years. Retirements were minimal and the trial kept moving.
Covering over 600 miles during the six days of the trial means that competitors have relatively few sections and plenty of road and rough riding. The first day covered 150 miles, with the worst hazard being a difficult group of four sections at Edramucky. It was here that Malcolm Rathmell (Bultaco) asserted himself as the first day leader by cleaning the lot. This made him the only unpenalized rider at the end of the day. It was not a secure position, though, for two riders lost but one mark, and among the five with two penalty points was Gordon Farley (Montesa). Two brilliant rides were also turned in by teenager Rob Shepherd, riding for the works Montesa B team, and Roger Mount, also Montesa mounted.
Last year’s winner and current leader of the European trials championship, Mick Andrews, was not in the first 15.
Any competitor losing maximum points on the 131-mile 'Tuesday route would have added 145 to his total, as riders in the trial were penalized one mark for a dab, three for footing and five for stopping. Additional, marks were added for finishing outside a time schedule.
Farley, his teammate Rob Edwards and Andrews all lost five, and so a pattern emerged that was to be the blueprint for the top all week. Farley took the lead with seven, followed by Rathmell, 9, and Ian Haydon (Montesa), 10. Snapping at their heels with 1 1 were Andrews and Edwards.
The Wednesday route, 64 miles and 32 sections, established Farley at the top of the leaderboard with a clear four-point advantage over Rathmell. But, it was a bad day for Farley despite his lead, as he started by losing six at the foot of Ben Nevis. At the end of the day, Andrews had moved up one more place into 3rd. It was the halfway stage, and Andrews was ready.
lie did just that on Thursday with an unpenalized run; a determined effort by Rathmell, losing only one, made them joint leaders with 20, ahead of Farley with 22. Farley, in an apparent clean or bust effort on one section, busted and lost five instead of gaining the clean that would have given him a three-point lead.
On Friday young Shepherd, who was 12th the night before, pulled his socks up to make the best performance of the day with 12 marks lost. This hoisted him to 8th. Andrews and his teammate Dave Thorpe both lost 15 which, for Thorpe, meant a move up the board from 6th to 4th. Andrews gained a clear 1st place with a total of 35, to 39 for Rathmell in 2nd spot. Farley had lost a disastrous 24 that day and dropped right down to 5th, but on the final day he struck back and lost only three. It was good enough to get back in to 2nd place, beating Rathmell on the special test, as they both finished with 49 marks lost. Andrews was the undisputed winner with 38 marks lost. Fourth was Thorpe, but it takes three for a team prize and this went to Montesa with Farley 2nd, Fidwards 6th and Lawrence 'Telling 1 1 th.
Finishing in 5th place was Martin Lampkin (Bultaco), who rode well throughout the week with no signs of the invisible pressure that must he on him every year until he wins a Scottish.
'Those two first-day surprises, Shepherd and Mount, finished 10th and 1 2th respectively. In age, they are contemporaries of Martin Lapkin, so there is no doubt if he is to get that win he will have to earn it.
The Scottish is without doubt a magnificent event. It is the Daytona of the trials world and competing is reward in itself. Fitness and a reliable machine are the two essentials. 'There are four classes of awards, at the top of which came Andrews with 39 marks lost, while at the end of the third class category came a rider with a total of 588. Why not make plans now for that first week in May 1972?
500-MILE PRODUCTION CLASSIC
Not to be outdone by the trialsters as far as long distance events are concerned, the road racers have their classic 500-mile production machine race, and this year an American style Formula 750 event was run concurrently. Held over a distance of 200 miles, it was expected to provide a classic battle between Peter Williams, on a Norton Commando, and the works Triumph and BSA Threes of Paul Smart and Ray Pickrell. However, factory policy decreed that Williams should contest the 500 miler. So, it was left to Smart and Pickrell to provide the fireworks in an event that would have proved a damp squib without them.
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The 500 miler, with a Le Mans-type start, began when the flag fell at noon. One minute later, the entries in the Formula 750 set off with the advantage of a clutch start. Though the 750 event lasted for 2 hr., 16 min., 5.2 sec., the story is a simple one; Smart tucked in just behind Pickrell all the time until the gas stop, the arrangements for which were not all they might have been. There were only four hand-operated pumps to deal with the entry of both 750 and production races. As luck would have it, Smart and Pickrell came in together. Smart got immediate attention, but Pickrell was balked by a 500-mile man and lost 20 sec. before he could set off after Smart.
From that moment Smart should have won, but as is so often the case, being in front was a handicap. Pickrell wrung the neck of the BSA and within seven laps had caught Smart. From then on, the two of them continued their hectic scrap, weaving through the 500 miler competitors, both intent on victory.
Even on the final lap, the lead changed hands twice as these two experienced campaigners tried to outwit each other. 'Then on the final turn, a marshall held out a warning board “finish 200 miler,” and Smart, leading at that point, shut off, thinking he had won. But the finish was around the corner, so Pickrell took the flag and 1st place on the BSA Rocket Three. Five laps behind the leaders came the 3rd man home, Dudley Robinson, on a 350 Yamaha. A standard 350 Suzuki ridden by Keith Martin was 4th. Pickrell’s winning speed was 88.35 mph.
The Norton Villiers policy of concentrating on the 500-mile Grand Prix d’Endurance, to give the race its full title, seemed to be paying off. They entered Peter Williams and Charlie Sanby, the team that won last year for them. After the initial shakedown period, they led through the fifth hour.
With possibly six laps left and two laps in hand over the 2nd-place team came a sensation.
Team leader Williams suddenly became overdue, and then came the news that he had crashed on the back of the circuit when victory seemed assured. A damaged contact breaker prevented Williams from restarting the bike and a nasty uphill section precluded him from pushing back to gain the 4th place that the number of laps the bike had completed would have qualified for.
Williams made no excuses, stating that he had cut engine revs to save the motor and over-braked in a moment of lapse. It was just the sort of error that occurs when the pace has eased; under pressure it would not have happened, as concentration would have been 100 percent. His misery could not have been more complete. Co-pilot Sanby, naturally dejected, had a look about him which suggested “rather him than me.”
But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and the crash put a Triumph Trident, ridden by Percy Tait and Dave C'roxford, into the lead. It had held 2nd place since the second hour, reeled off the remaining laps without bother and won at 84.70 mph in a record time of 5 hr., 54 min., 26.8 sec. A BSA Rocket Three, ridden by Bob Heath and John Barton, finished 2nd, but neither Triumph nor BSA can feel very confident of beating the Norton in the all important Formula 750 and Production races at the Isle of Man TT to be reported next month.
In fact, the odds are all against them as the mountain course brings out the best in Williams. Smart will not compete because of three broken bones in his right wrist sustained in a recent accident, and the last time Pickrell rode in the Isle of Man, he broke a shoulder that proved difficult to mend. To win, Triumph or BSA will need more speed, less weight and a top class rider; it will be interesting to see how they tackle their problems.
There is always the problem of lap scoring in a long distance event like the 500 miler. This year it occurred with the 500 class running at the same time as the Formula 750 race and the big class of the 500 mile race itself. The “experts” wondered whether there was anything that could beat the Suzukis in the 500 class. Some thought a Kawasaki might pull it off, with some 500 Triumphs ready to pounce if the twostrokes fell by the wayside.
It came as a shattering surprise therefore when a 500 BSA Gold Star Single romped away right from the start of the race, though it was some time before the official lap scorers gave the riding team of Clive Brown and Nigel Rollason credit for leading their class. Some wondered just what was inside the engine of that Goldie, as it ran like clockwork to finish only 1 1 laps behind the overall winners.
There was no 250 class this year, as the track space went to the new style Formula 750 event.
