Classic Racer May/June 2017

M

KIRKBYALPHA

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN N

#185

classicracer.com

where legendss live on...

FREE

DVD

www.classicracer.com

OFFICIAL PARTNER

2 ClassicRacer

As a reader of Classic Racer you need no introduction as to who Mr Surtees was and what he achieved. If you’ve picked this up as your first taste of this magazine then the man who won seven motorcycle GP world championships and also went on to take the F1 crown, is the focus of much of this episode of the classic racer world for good reason.

028 Paddock Gossip Corners of the paddock and global events scoured and reported on by our Malcolm as he continues to deliver the news that matters about the people who live motorcycles.

038 Readers Write As one might expect, many memories of Mr Surtees have arrived at Classic Racer headquarters, all of which have – without exception – espoused the many positives his actions brought not only to motorcycle racing but also Britain. Here’s a selection of some of the missives we have received.

042 Paul Goldsmith When he had a telephone call from Mr Harley and Mr Davidson, inviting him to race for them in the 1940s, Paul Goldsmith knew he had arrived. Goldsmith is an AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame resident, a Daytona 200 winner and a five-times AMA Nationals winner. But it’s his memories of racing on a shifting sands beach course whilst battling other riders and an incoming tide that will stick in your mind.

050 Vince French From a racing start to spinning the spanners for some of the biggest names in racing history, French was one of the most influential and instrumental people in racing’s past. Here’s his story and an explanation of why many big names owe this particular man a lot.

060 Back in the day: Anderstorp GP 1974 It had been a difficult meeting for some, but in Sweden it was home hero Lansivuori who found the top step of a memorable 500cc race. Jan Burgers explains what happened.

066 Match Races: Part 4 In to the 1980s and the last events of the GB v USA series.

Future and current GP stars from both sides of the pond, upcoming young guns looking to establish themselves and incredible races from start to finish were a fine epitaph for the TT races.

076 Kirkby Alpha In 1968, Lincolnshire’s John Kirkby mated an ex-Tom Philips Vio Camp Ducati chassis to a 247cc disc valve vertical twostroke twin from Alpha Automotive of Dudley. The result is exquisite.

082 CRMC Round One: Snetterton Graham Lawlor and Russ Lee were in attendance at the opening CRMC event in the flatlands of Norfolk. Here's their report on the event.

Terms & Conditions – Only one FREE copy of DMDVD1158 per reader, multiple applications will not be accepted. See page 16 for details on how to order. All orders must be received by June 30, 2017. Allow 28 days from receipt of order for delivery. This limited offer is subject to availability. We offer a full money back guarantee. If you are unhappy with your purchase, simply return it to Duke Marketing Ltd, Champion House, Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1DD, in the original packaging, for a full refund. Promoter Mortons Media Ltd

CL

006 John Surtees: an appreciation

SURTEES HN

WHAT’SINSIDE

SIC RACER AS

JO

MAY/JUNE2017 ISSUE185 EDITOR Tony Carter tcarter@mortons.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Paul Deacon

PUBLISHER Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk

CIRCULATION MANAGER Steven O’Hara

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Malcolm Wheeler, Alan Cathcart, Hamish Cooper, Mark McCloskey, Norm de Witt, Bruce Cox, Jan Burgers, Pete Parnham, Graham Lawlor, Russ Lee

MARKETING MANAGER Charlotte Park

PRODUCTION EDITORS Sarah Wilkinson Sarah Palmer SENIOR DESIGNER Kelvin Clements DESIGNERS Michael Baumber Libby Fincham PICTURE DESK Paul Fincham Jonathan Schofield DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Sue Keily ADVERTISING Leon Currie 01507 529413 lcurrie@mortons.co.uk

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Dan Savage COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Nigel Hole EDITORIAL ADDRESS Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR UK WEBSITE www.classicracer.com GENERAL QUERIES AND BACK ISSUES 01507 529529 24hr answerphone help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTION Full subscription rates (but see page 40 for offer): (12 months 6 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £27. Export rates are also available – see page 40 for more details.

UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value AddedTax. DISTRIBUTION Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001.

USA SUBSCRIPTIONS

CLASSIC RACER (USPS:706-150) is published bi-monthly

by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $30 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Bancroft, WI and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to CLASSIC RACER, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@classicbikebooks.com Printed by William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton ISSN No 1470-4463 © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

Member of the Professional Publishers’ Association

Independent publisher since 1885

CR ASSI ACER CL

HN SURTEES JO

John Surtees taking the MV to the limit of not only the tyres, but the chassis also.

At the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix, by a fluke of position and the ability of the photographer, Mr Surtees’ inch-perfect line is overseen by a racing car in a foretelling of a direction to come.

Photo: Mortons Archive

6 ClassicRacer

ClassicRacer 7

CR ASSI ACER CL

HN SURTEES JO

CLASSIC RACER JOHN SURTEES C

Pictures by: Mortons Archive

J

ohn Surtees died on March 10, 2017.

Respiratory failure took the seventimes motorcycling world champion at the age of 83.

He is, so far, the only man to have won the biggest crown on both two wheels and four and the racing world globally recognised the passing of one of its greats on a cold morning in London.

Mr Surtees was born in Tatsfield, Surrey and grew up under the watchful eye of his father Jack.

Surtees Senior had spent years as a bus driver but a passion for powered competition had filled his spare time with sidecar racing and ownership of a motorcycle shop in Croydon, two elements that were to heavily influence Surtees Junior.

Whilst John’s father took to the grass on a 500cc Excelsior B14 motorcycle and sidecar outfit, the young John travelled to events with his mother Dorothy (who was a fine motorcycle rider herself, often passengering for Jack in off-road trials sidecar events).

Whilst the Excelsior stayed in the family fold for the trials events, Jack acquired a 596cc Norton for the grasstracks.

During the Second World War Jack joined the Royal Corps of Signals but was invalided out of the Army in 1943 after falling asleep on a motorcycle, crashing and breaking his femur. That led to an 18-month-long recovery – and a plan to get back to racing. Which is where the young John Surtees comes into the story, taking those first, faltering steps, getting his first proper taste of racing that would lead to one of the most successful racing lives of all time.

1946 – Aged 12, John Surtees gets his first ride on a motorcycle, a 500cc Wallace-Blackburne speedway bike

1948 – Aged 14, first race on his father’s 1000cc Vincent sidecar outfit 1949 – Aged 15, first solo race on a 500cc ExcelsiorJAP in a grasstrack race 1950 – Aged 16, first road race on a Triumph Tiger 70 at Brands Hatch

As you will have noticed by now, this is a special issue of Classic Racer.

As soon as we heard the news about John Surtees, both Malc and I agreed that CR should devote the first, serious section of this issue to the man himself.

As I sit here at Classic Racer towers, in a building that Mr Surtees opened for Mortons in 2004, I am reminded of how the man who won seven motorcycling GP world titles conducted himself each time I met with him.You can watch one of those meetings in the DVD attached to this cover (digital and export readers visit: classicracer.com/185dvd/). In it you’ll see Mr Surtees relaxed and happy, talking about racing. We can all relate to our shared passion.

Over the years, whether we talked about the history of motorcycle racing, the current state of the sport or whatever had caught our eye in the world of road bikes, Mr Surtees was always the same – educated, interested and forthright.

Often I spent far longer than I was supposed to talking with Mr Surtees when I had the chance. We would end up discussing specifics of a certain motorcycle, about how it would ‘talk’ to the rider when being ridden. I found that there was a very great interest in exactly how modern rider aids and electronics work, too. Once, I met with Mr Surtees directly from a ride on a modern bike with all the latest rider electronics fitted. We talked for over an hour on how the gizmos worked and – more importantly for the, then, just turned 80-year-old JS – how they feel when riding fast. His curiosity for finding out how changes can make something quicker was still burning bright – still that pure racer at heart.

The legacy he leaves is one of style, speed and success. His like will not be seen again and we have lost both a true legend and a true gentleman of racing in his passing.

TC

ClassicRacer 9

HN SURTEES JO

CR ASSI ACER CL

HOW IT BEGAN

10 ClassicRacer

J

ohn Surtees may have had his first taste of riding a motorcycle at the age of 12 on the Wallace-Blackburne speedway bike, but it wasn’t until the lofty age of 14 that he took his first step into motorcycle competition.

John said: “I was 14 when I first entered a race. It was as a passenger to my father in his 1000cc Vincent sidecar outfit at Trent Park in London when his usual partner couldn’t make the race.”

In a set of his father’s old leathers, the young John became adept at providing traction by shifting around the outfit, but his early taste of action was curtailed when officials discovered his age, and promptly disqualified him for being underage!

He was bitten by the bug though and just before his son’s 15th birthday Jack Surtees let John loose for an impromptu blast along a public road at Warlingham Heights on the North Downs: “It was a glorious moment.

Although the bike was too big for me I took to it immediately. I remember my father warning me to take it easy but once I was on the bike and had the open road in front of me I was away. It was a life-changing moment.”

Naturally, John Surtees was to find his way to a solo race and this was in 1948 aboard a 500cc B14 Excelsior-Jap, pretty much following in his father's footsteps. That first

Left: John working on the Triumph at Brands Hatch. His father is holding the handlebarss and journalist Charlie Rous (in the beret) is one of the onlookers.

Right: Jack the driver, John the passenger but both are using their bodies to counterr the effects of the big Vincent’s torque.

outing at Eaton-Bray grasstrack in Luton had many more downs than ups and after a clutch of falls Jack stepped in and said that his son had better try out something smaller and more manageable.

As it was, this coincided with a piece of historical significance. Brands Hatch had just been given its new paved surface and in April 1950 John Surtees took to the solid surface with gusto on a Triumph Tiger 70, a prewar 250cc motorcycle.

“At the start of the race it wasn't raining but it started soon after we got going. One moment I was up and the next I was sliding on the track without the bike underneath me. It was a lesson learned that day though,

I couldn’t just try to win by going fast, I had to be more aware of what was happening around me.”

It wasn’t long before the unreliable Triumph made way for something bigger and more robust – a Vincent – which, in turn, was moved aside for the first 500cc Manx Norton.

That was in 1952 when John made his debut in his first World Championship race, finishing sixth in the Ulster GP. The thrill of domestic racing had lost its glare, in the wake of Les Graham winning the inaugural 500cc World Championship in 1949, John Surtees had found a route to global competition...

L Left: John’s mother Dorothy was a keen motorcyclist w herself. h R Right: A 12-year-old John looks on as his dad and partner pose for a picture. p Two years later, John T would passenger for his w dad for the first time (albeit d illegally).

B Below: Icon picture – on the grid at Brands Hatch.

ClassicRacer 11

CR ASSI ACER CL

HN SURTEES JO

12 ClassicRacer