Classic Racer - July/August 2019 - Preview

WIN! WIN! WIN!

THESE BRILLIANT RST ISLE OF MAN TT LEATHERS

WO RT H

£350!

UNDERTHE SKIN AOKI’S GORGEOUS XR88 FACTORY BIKE

#198

AZIANO GR I S

SSI GRAZ O I R

ROSSI G NO R A

www.classicracer.ccom where legends live on...

IANO ROS AZ

VALENTINO’S DAD ON HIS MOST FAMOUS RACE FINISH

OUT IN THE ‘80S HOW SUZUKI WENT RACING WITH CARDBOARD BOAX

S LIANM WIL JOHN THE EVERYMA HERO www.classicracer.com

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STUNNING! THE EXACTWELD RACER

Number 198 July/August 2019

AUSTRA RALIA’S A BATHURST 1972! GREATEST RA RACE A

£4.50

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WHAT’SINSIDE

014 Readers write Over the past couple of months there have been things that vexed you, entertained you and occurred to you. On these pages we offer a place for your thoughts to be aired to a larger world.

017 Paddock Gossip

030 From the left-field At a time when avant-garde thinking was (arguably) around more than in current racing

044 Under the skin Top photographer Phil Aynsley has had the gorgeous Suzuki RGV500 XR88 under his studio lights for these up-close detail images. The results of a motorcycle that is more than two decades old (yes, really) are quite spectacular.

058 Minnovation Racing A look at one of the stalwarts of the racing world.

062 Exactweld’s exquisite example It’s a motorcycle that’s well known in racing circles, but you’ve never seen it quite like this before. Captured in all its glory.

070 John Williams’ story Part one: The tale of the man who turned down factory rides to stay a privateer and cut his own path.

WIN! WIN! WIN!

THESE BRILLIANT RST ISLE OF MAN TT LEATHERS

WORTH £350!

UNDERTHE SKIN

AOKI’S GORGEOUS XR88 FACTORY BIKE

#198

www.classicracer.cco om where legends live on...

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Full subscription rates (but see page 26 for offer): (12 months 6 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £24. Export rates are also available – see page 26 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value AddedTax.

SSI GRAZ I RO

ROSSI G NO A

Malcolm has been out and about again, looking into the various corners of various paddocks to grab a look at each and every happening that is newsworthy.

Classic Racer brought you the fine in-detail photographs of the TSR Heron Suzuki in the last issue and now it’s time to tell the story of this motorcycle that passed through more famous racers’hands than you may be aware of. Great story.

Classic Racer’s Jeffrey Zani sat down with the racer-in-his-own-right – and father of Valentino Graziano Rossi – for a Q&A session.

Z GRA IANO SI

The latest edition of the racing-themed crossword from Ben Rumbold.

038 Michael Scott: The Cardboard Box GP machine

052 Graziano Rossi

VALENTINO’S DAD ON HIS MOST FAMOUS RACE FINISH

OUT INTHE‘80S HOW SUZUKI WENT RACING WITH A CARDBOARD BOX

JOHN WILLIAMS

THE EVERYMAN HERO www.classicracer.com

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AUSTRA RALIA’S A BATHURST 1972! GREATEST RA ACE

STUNNING! THE EXACTWELD RACER

£4.50

012 The Classic Racer Crossword

circles, there was a plethora of frame and chassis designs doing the rounds. Dave Hiscock's Coleman Suzuki is worth a close-up look from the period. Like this.

Number 198 July/August 2019

Three great images from the greatest man to ever pick up a camera and head out trackside. Timely, poignant and sublime, from the Classic Racer files.

O ZIAN ROS RA

006 From the archive

ISSUE198 077 Racing down under Our Hamish Cooper took in the sights and sounds of the IFOS at Eastern Creek and filed this report.

082 Great battles Terry Stevenson puts forward his case for the claim of ‘Greatest Battle’ – this time it’s an absolute belter from the Bathurst battles.

088 On Track A double-bill of action from the CRMC and BHR championships this month.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 EDITOR Tony Carter jclements@mortons.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Paul Deacon

PUBLISHER Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk

CIRCULATION MANAGER Steven O’Hara

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Don Morley, Malcolm Wheeler, Ben Rumbold, Mick Ofield, Alan Cathcart, Michael Scott, Phil Aynsley, Jeffrey Zani, Ross Mowbray, AlanTurner, Gary D Chapman, Phil Wain, Hamish Cooper,Terry Stevenson, Graham Lawlor, Peter Morris, MikeYiend.

MARKETING MANAGER Charlotte Park

PRODUCTION EDITOR Sarah Wilkinson DESIGNER Chris Abrams PICTURE DESK Paul Fincham Jonathan Schofield GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER Sue Keily DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Billy Manning

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

ADVERTISING Kate Hayes 01507 529576 khayes@mortons.co.uk Chloe Jones 01507 529576 cjones@mortons.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION Full subscription rates (but see page 26 for offer): (12 months 6 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £27. Export m ates are also available – see page 26 for more details. ra UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value U AddedTax. A DISTRIBUTION D Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, M ondon E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001.

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

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 B and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes o CLASSIC RACER, c/o Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 to Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 chris@ C cllassicbikebooks.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.

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6 ClassicRacer

Photograph: Don Morley

INCHING IT...

YEAR: 1961 // One has the line, the other wants it more.

Jim Redman and Tom Phillis ring the necks of their 298cc Honda 4s in 1961, shoulder-toshoulder in the Race of the Year.

For Jim this was three years before he (arguably) reached the headiest of heights in his career.

For Tom it was a racing moment in a season that saw him take Honda’s first championship race

win at the Spanish GP on the 125, before building on that pace to lift the crown on the smaller bike.

Phillis lost his life when he crashed in the 350cc TT at Laurel Bank a year later. On hearing of his friend’s death Redman was reported to have asked Mike Hailwood: “What shall we do, stop?” Only to have Mike the Bike reply: “No. Make a will.”

ClassicRacer 7

CLASSIC RACER ARCHIVE

8 ClassicRacer

RIIIING...

DING...

DING...

DING...

Photograph: Don Morley YEAR: You tell us // LOCATION: Where do you reckon?

We will start you off with Ago next to Read but after that, it’s over to you.

Yes, it’s another in our long line of ‘email Malc with the names of everyone on the entire grid’ archive shots.

Amusingly, it means that Malc gets a lot of emails through and he doesn’t know why (until he sees the magazine himself).

Recently, whilst out in Daytona for the 200, Malc said he knew the moment CR went on sale because he suddenly received a lot of emails all with a list of

riders’ names as the content.

If that’s not enough to get you to send your entry in, then we don’t know what will.

It’s just a bit of fun – there’s no prize for getting this correct or being first other than bragging rights down the pub (if you want a prize for your efforts go and complete our crossword on pages 12/13 in this issue).

Send your grid identity roll call to: mwheeler@mortons. co.uk and he’ll know the instant the magazine is on sale again – funny stuff.

ClassicRacer 9

CLASSIC RACER ARCHIVE

10 ClassicRacer

‘COME ON THEN, STOP US STRIKING!’ YEAR: 1982. // LOCATION: Nogaro circuit, paddock gates, France.

Things had been growing tense in the world of motorcycle racing – on the riders’ side frustrations were rising to almost pique in Grand Prix.

Riders were fed up with a promoterbiased recipe of dangerous tracks and poor money. By the late 1970s Kenny Roberts tried to start a ‘breakaway’ world series which never got off the ground, not least of all because some of the biggest names of the time (Wil Hartog being one of them) refused the offer to go racing in this alternative option.

Things barely improved over the next couple of years however, and in 1982 the limit of just what the riders were prepared to put up with was reached. At Nogaro,

France, a riders’ strike was called.

Reasons given for the action by the big names of the day included what some deemed a dangerously overcrowded paddock.

So it happened. A riders’ strike.

And whilst organisers could do little to persuade anyone to withdraw, the local gendarmes assembled in case of unrest.

Far be it for us to point out that, in this superb photograph by Don Morley, one racer of the time was a vocal protagonist of the anger felt by the quick lads. His name, Graziano Rossi.

Don't mess with the racers, they’re the show and once they realise that – they have the power.

Photograph: Don Morley

ClassicRacer 11

1ST PRIZE

AN RST IOM TT GRANDSTAND LEATHER SUIT WORTH

Welcome to the third Classic Racer crossword. Put your racing knowledge to the test and complete the puzzle to be in with a chance of winning a terrific RST IOM TT Grandstand one-piece leather suit.

Good luck.

£349.99

Compiled by: Ben Rumbold, MotoXwords About the leathers:

Part of the RST IOM TT Collection, the Grandstand Leather Suit is CE Certified to Level A. The Isle of Man TT inspired suit has a less aggressive stance than other more track-oriented suits which means added comfort when in a more upright position – it also comes supplied with limited edition knee sliders.

ARMOUR: • CE Certification Rating: A • Back Protector: CE Level 1 • Shoulder Armour: CE Level 1 • Elbow Armour: CE Level 1 • Hip Armour: Pocket Only • Knee Armour: CE Level 1 • Shoulder Cup: TPU

I

t’s another issue of CR so that means there’s another chance for you to win a great prize. To be in with a chance of winning, just correctly complete the crossword opposite. Once you’ve done that, you need to send the work of mind and black and white boxes to us at CR Towers where Malc will once again delve deep into the upturned helmet of heroes to pluck forth one lucky winner.

That lucky winner will not only be able to boast about how they were the best CR Crossword enterer (is that a word? Probably not...) but also be able to strutt around in the paddock or home – or both – whilst wearing a superb RST set of IOM TT leathers.

So just fill in all the answers, include your details on the form and send it to Classic Racer Towers. Get it to us by 9am, August 5, 2019 and it could be you walking off with our terrific prize.

Don’t forget!

If you don’t want to cut up your issue of Classic Racer then we will accept a photocopy of the completed crossword and the completed form.

You can keep your CR pristine and intact.

We will print the answers to this issue’s puzzle in the next edition of Classic Racer – you can find the answers to the last one on these very pages.

CONSTRUCTION: • Main Outer Material: Cowhide Leather • Stretch Material: 4 Way Stretch • Inner Lining: Fixed Comfort Mesh Lining • Collar: Neoprene Race • Cuff: Neoprene Race • Zips: Max Zips • Thread: Coates Bonded Nylon – Triple Stitched • Ventilation: Perforated Leather FEATURES AND BENEFITS: • Knee Sliders: Isle of Man TT Knee Sliders • Inner Pockets: 2 The suit comes in sizes 38-60 For more information go to: www.rst-moto.com

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CLUES

Across 7

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14 15

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Here’s the legal bit that you need to know To be in with a chance of winning, fill in your details and return the completed crossword to: Classic Racer July/August 2019 Competition, Mortons Media Group Ltd, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR Competition closes: 9am, August 5, 2019 Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms (please circle) First name:

Surname:

Address:

Town/City:

County:

Postcode:

Country:

Email: Telephone: The terms and the conditions

To be in with a chance of winning fill in your details on the form and return the completed crossword to: Classic Racer July/August 2019 Competition, Mortons Media Group Ltd, MortonWay, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR Competition Closes: 9am, August 5, 2019 There are no cash alternatives available. The winner will be the first name drawn at random from the Classic Racer helmet. Terms and conditions apply. To view the privacy policy of MMG Ltd (publisher of Classic Racer) please visit www.mortonsmediagroup.com/privacy Please tick if you are happy to receive information about: Magazine subscriptions / Merchandise / Shows  3rd Parties  Research  Are you happy to be contacted via: Email  Phone  Letter  SMS  3rd Party  Social Media 

Here’s the answers to last issue’s Classic Racer Crossword: Across

Down

1 Lucky Strike Suzuki, 7 Gary Hocking, 10 Linto, 11 Tank Slapper, 13 Monza, 15 Heat Race, 19 Imperial, 22 Troy, 23 Bonera, 24 Honda, 27 Grips, 28 Norifumi Abe, 29 Olive, 30 Piergiorgio, 33 & 34 Across Fabrizio Pirovano

1 Lightweight, 2 Key, 3 & 20 Across Skoal Bandit, 4 Kenneth, 5 Unlimited, 6 Imola, 8 Renzo Pasolini, 9 Kop, 12 Shark, 14 Alfonso “Sito”, 16 Era, 17 Anton Mang, 18 Erv Kanemoto, 20 Barrier, 21 HB, 25 Isle, 26 Junior, 27 Geoff, 31 Rev, 32 TZ

1: Tobacco brand behind the black-and-gold livery of the iconic Rotary Norton Superbikes. (4,6,7) 7: Experimental Swiss Sidecar maestro who lost more than one title to mechanical breakdowns.

(4,6) 10: As Monocoque pioneer Eric Offenstadt was more affectionately known. (4) 12: Inventors of the desmodronic engine design in the 1950s (6) 13: No overtaking chaps, this flag is waving because of trouble ahead! (6) 14: Nearest city to the first middle-eastern GP venue that did start in daylight in the early 00s. (4) 15: Mick’s elder brother who made a few forays out of Oz but with nowhere near as much success. (5) 18: Always the bridesmaid American with a distinctive foot-off-the-peg cornering style. (6) 19: Form of cement used to soak up on-track oil spillages. (4) 21: To achieve a championship points-paying finish. (5) 22: Mr Cooley, double AMA Superbike champion who beat off rising stars called Spencer and Lawson. (3) 23: Mr Kavanagh, first Australian winner of a motorcycle Grand Prix (3) 24: If you don’t get a good start, you’ve got one of these on your hands. (5) 25: Derbyshireman who took two 350cc World titles and along with 23 across was one of few to race the Moto Guzzi V8. (5) 27: German long-time Yamaha 250cc racer who was involved in the buyout of 26 Down in 2009. (6) 29: Hideo, Japanese Yamaha export and winner at the Australian Bathurst races. (6) 32: Stopper design used with either two-or fourleading shoes. (4) 33: Tevo, flying Finn who was runner-up to Barry Sheene in his first title season. (10) 34 & 5 Down: Oliver’s Mount blue riband event with an uncertain future (11,6,3)

Down 1 & 18 Down: One of the most successful racers from the British Isles in the later days of the 250cc two-stroke GP era. (6,10) 2: Many early sporting events for bikes and cars measured their ability to make an ascent. (4,6) 3: 18 Across became the first rider to win a GP with these on front and rear, and Freddie Spencer called them the most important innovation of his career. (6,5) 4: Soft drink sponsor that became iconic on a 17 down wearing number 34. (5) 5: See 34 Across 6: Spanish 1990s 250cc podium man who went on to run Norick Abe in a satellite Yamaha 500cc team (4,1’5) 8: World’s first purpose-built motorsports venue which was the home of bike racing between the wars (10) 9: If you want to keep your head safe you better keep this on it. (3) 11: When 18 Across was on an uncompetitive bike he would often entertain crowds by doing one of these on a warm-up lap. (4) 16: Former 125cc GP-winning Italian who founded his own team to race in from 1996. The team is much bigger now! (11) 17: Hamamatsu’s GP racer from the late 1980s onwards took two Americans to their only 500cc titles. (6,3) 18: See 1 Down 20: The middle of three GP racing Japanese brothers who suffered paralysis in a crash in 1998. (6,4) 26: East German manufacturer that revolutionized two-stroke racing in the early 1960s. (2).

28: Honda ___ Corporation – forming the initials that have consistently been at the front of GP racing since the early 1980s. (6) 29: Taiwanese scooter manufacturer that broke away from Honda in the 1960s. (5) 30: Makers of the 7R and the inaugural 500cc world title-winning Porcupine. (3) 31: The ultimate “son of” racer was widely known as this during his own career. (2,2)

Classic Racer, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs, LN9 6JR.

CRletters@mortons.co.uk

facebook.com/ClassicRacerMag/

If you want to get in touch…

Then please do. We read every letter, email and comment sent to us and we enjoy hearing from you. Let us know If you’ve an event coming up, a motorcycle you own or just want to let us know about something you find interesting in CR’s world.

More on the Roberts clan plus SETTLE A BET Dear CR As a regular supporter of the Northern Irish road races I feel it is a tragedy that they are under so much pressure in Northern Ireland.

Can you settle a bet for me? I have a £10 wager with my friend who is a regular in Northern Ireland and he maintains that the first year he visited the NW200 in 1968 the class was won by Bill Smith on a Honda from Kel Carruthers second and John Hartle third, both on Aermacchis.

Our wager revolves around the Honda that won, I say it was one of the very rare ER77s, my mate says it was a rare kitted CB350,

which was the forerunner of many, many race kitted CB350s which have dominated classic racing since the early 1960s.

Can you tell me which Honda model it was that won the race and if I am correct, I will be £10 better off!

Your magazine is absolutely fantastic and the only race mag worth reading.

Joe Edmunson Email OK Joe, usual rules apply – the floor is open to the extensive CR readership who will be able to give us chapter-and-verse on your query.

Tony

STAR LETTER PRIZE

Write the Star Letter and you will win two incredible DVDs from the lovely people at Duke Video – this month we’ve got a terrific road-themed brace of aces to give away: Road Racing Great Races Vol 1 and A History of Road Racing. Entertain us with your words and we’ll entertain you back with some brilliant screen time for free!

From a fan’s POV Dear CR Excellent magazine as usual,thank you,have been a reader since issue one.

Loved the article on Ray Knight and as with the one on Ernie Bryant it brought back memories of BFRC and Racing 50 club meetings at Cadwell Park. l remember the collecting area down by the cafe where you pulled out your grid position from a bingo caller’s number bag, making your way to the second collecting area on the Mansfield corner run off road overlooking the corner watching the race preceding your own.

Then there was the magic of silence on the

14 ClassicRacer

grid, flag dropping and pushing like mad to bumpstart your bike. l usually got quite good starts and remember one incident in particular as a lad on a 1000 Vincent engine special got a slow start, flew into the mega tight hairpin way too fast shouting at the top of his voice to warn the rest of us of his predicament. l picked my 750 Norton up as he flew across the front of me towards the Mountain for a quick U-turn, then we all just carried on with the race. Great times.

Any chance of an article on the BFRC, where l first came across Malc Wheeler W on his ex-John Borsberry G50 Seeley when l was racing the same make of bike in 1973?

Also brilliant article on Mick Boddice, reminding me of huge crowds at Mallory where five of us balanced on a home-made stand to enable us to see any of the track over the heads in front, it was okay until one of us overbalanced. l consider myself so lucky to have been born in the best era.

Dick Groom Email Dick, that’s not a bad idea for a feature – I’ll chat it through with Malc and see what he thinks to it. Tony.

Dear CR The Roberts boys were involved in motorcycling from a young age, and Kenny senior took them to various northern California events, just to meet some of the motorcycling greats of that time.

Dick Mann organized vintage dirt racing events from 1985 which included interviews with the local heroes of that time. First photo from the 1987 event shows, left to right, tuning great Tom Sifton, motorcycle dealer and distributor Hap Jones, Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts senior, Kenny junior, and Kurtis.

Second photo has Kurtis facing forward, though not overly interested at this point, and includes Mert Lawwill. The event flyer is the actual cut-and-paste master that I used to make photocopies, long before computers could assist with that sort of thing.

Our Britalia Motors shop provided support services over the years for this event, as well as vintage shows in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Del Mar, California.

John McCoy, Santa Cruz, California & Como, Italy Email Hello John, thanks for this letter and the photos. It’s always very satisfying and slightly addictive to see ‘family’ casual photos like these. Tony

I’ve been comparing photographs...

Dear CR I have been studying the photograph on page 74 of Classic Racer No. 196, of Barry Sheene standing with a Suzuki captioned as “the ex-factory Suzuki 125”. It is undoubtedly a photograph of a young Barry Sheene but doesn’t look like a 125. For a start, the photograph shows two carburettors on the left hand side of the bike, but I believe that the Suzuki 125 of that time was a disc valve parallel twin.

Is Sheene standing with the 250cc ‘square four’? I have compared the photograph with some in Vic Willoughby’s book, ‘The Racing Motorcycle’ (pages 136-139), but what confuses me further is comparison of the brakes on the bike in the Classic Racer photograph and those as shown in Vic book. Both the 125 ‘twin’ and the 250 ‘four’ show large twin (four?) leading shoe front brakes.

As far as the brakes go, the nearest (in size) to that depicted with Sheene is that on the 50cc bike (which it obviously isn’t).

If my memory serves me right, was Sheene’s bike not the one that Stuart Graham rode after Suzuki pulled out of racing?

I’ve had another look through some of my books and have come up with another possibility. In Jeff Clew’s book on Suzuki (page 130) he writes of Stuart Graham having “rode well” in the 1967 125 world championship but goes on to say that “Suzuki unveiled an entirely new 125cc four towards the end of the season, which used a 90-degree V layout, the two lower cylinders being mounted horizontally. Disc inlet valves, water cooling and greed crankshafts formed part of the basic specification”. I think that this fits the bill although I still don’t get the brakes – or lack of them!

I have been examining it as closely as I could and on comparison with other photographs and books available to me I still think that it is the 125 V4 that apparently only raced once, at Frisco (the last round of the 125 world championship of 1967.

In all the photos I have looked at, the 125 has large drum brakes, but those as shown on the Sheene photo look much smaller than those on the 125, they look similar to those on the Suzuki 50cc racer of that year. Close examination of the Sheene photo may suggest a disc brake caliper just in front of the fork leg, but I can’t be sure.

The two lugs on the fork leg would suggest the possibility of a caliper and is that a hydraulic mechanism just to the rear of the left side footrest? There doesn’t appear to be any brake drum in the rear wheel but no sign apparent of any caliper or attachment points. An enigma as another possibility is that the wheels are slave wheels put in place simply to permit easy movement of the machine?

Keep up the good work with the Classic Racer magazine.

Jack McGahan Email

REMEMBERING RODNEY Dear CR Hope this note finds you well and continuing with your great endeavour of producing the wonderful magazine that is Classic Racer. It’s always a good day when my subscription arrives in my mailbox here in Canada.

I wanted to send in this letter for a well known motor-sport figure and bike racer (and my much loved uncle), Rodney Gooch. As you may know Rodney passed away during April and so I wanted to write down a few words about his lifelong adventure in racing to prompt a few memories for the many in the sport whose lives he touched.

Rodney started his love affair with racing, as many a young racer did, in the early Sixties with the Bantam Racing Club (BRC), helping co-ordinate the south east section and editing the club’s national magazine. That role combined with his friendly enthusiasm making him a well known and popular figure in what was surely the best club of the day.

On track, ‘Rodders’, as he was affectionately known by his contemporaries, was a fierce competitor, being a regular runner in the 125cc class at international meetings in the late Sixties and early 70s on Bantam (the White BSA) and then the SONDELL Yamaha with many good results to show for it. The Island beckoned for Rodney in 1967 and he accomplished some creditable finishes, taking a best of ninth place in the 1974 Lightweight TT. Over the past 25 years Rodney will be known to most in our sport as the friendly face of Castle Coombe Race Circuit. He coordinated all sorts of motor sport activity with that same friendly enthusiasm from BRC days, combined with a keen and capable flare for marketing and an everpresent sense of fairness.

While Rodney was well known in both the car and bike works, his first passion always remained the bikes. Developing the Castle Coombe ‘Grand National’ into the

terrific bike racing event it has become.

In semi-retirement Rodney continued to improve the brand of that event culminating in the 2017 Mike Hailwood Anniversary meeting (the best ever attended meeting at the circuit) – bringing many of Mike’s bikes together with a host of superstars at the event. Those lucky to be there won’t forget the spine-tingling sight of Guy Martin ringing the neck of the wonderful Honda 6 around the fast West Country circuit. A superb event and a great credit to Rodney.

Prior to Castle Coombe Rodney had been a director at Brands Hatch and before that a director at a circuit and sporting event signage business, quite literally spending a life in racing. A lifestyle that while he engineered it himself, he was very thankful for. A passion lived.

Since the late Nineties Rodney, together with his oldest BRC muckers, had enjoyed a few racing forays to the roads of Belgium (Chimay and Gedinne) and several memorable parades at the TT, proving along the way that he was as quick as ever.

His funeral saw a terrific turnout with the chapel full to overflowing and a memorable celebration kindly hosted by the circuit where many funny, amazing, ‘unbelievable but true’ and kind stories about Rodney were swapped. Donations were raised for ‘Dorothy House Hospice’ and the ‘TT Riders’ Association’.

Go to YouTube and search for ‘Rodney Gooch TT’ and you can watch as ‘Rodders’ passes my father Christopher through ‘Barregarrow’ at one of those Isle of Man parade laps and gallops off down the road…

Christian Gregory Vancouver, Canada PS The photo on the right is from Rodney and Jim’s dalliance with the world of lawnmower racing.. He also raced Citroen 2CVs for a while!

Hello Christian, thank you for your memories of Rodney and the photos (I bet he was pretty rapid on a lawnmower! Tony

Thanks for this letter Jack, good detective work so far! One of the pure joys of CR is that every single point you raise will be debated and answered to the nth degree by our huge database of racing brains. I fear that my caption was indeed incorrect – apologies for that.

Tony

ClassicRacer 15

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#48

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Forty-eight Autumn 2018

OCTOBER 2018

No. 330 October 2018 £4.30 UK Off-sale date 31/10/2018

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