Grass Roots - Support Needed

By Alan Turner

Nostalgic motorcycle sport must be one of Britain's growth industries. Road racing, motocross/scrambles and trials, to name just three, have expanded to create such a demand for machinery that there are, for example, probably more Manx Nortons racing now than were ever built by Bracebridge Street and Plumstead.

There's one sport that seems to have unfortunately bucked the trend and that's track racing. Even more surprising when the south-east of the country, in its broadest sense, was once a hotbed of the sport. In theory, that should leave an abundance of obsolete race bikes that could be relatively cheaply prepared to buy and race once more. But where are they?

The clubs have tried hard. Instituted some years ago, the 'Upright' class was deliberately left as open as possible, to determine races out on the track, rather than in the reading of the small print of the rule book later. It has been successful as championships have now risen to national status. However, this did not lead a clamour of would-be riders with other old bikes, perhaps enough to see entire meetings given over to vintage and classic bikes.

The Vintage Motor Cycle Club has a Grass Track and Speedway section that has also been organising events countrywide for many years. Suitable tracks are available, but a lack of entries has been matched by the lack of those prepared to officiate at such events. Calendars were prepared, but meetings were often cancelled. Linking with junior riders helped boost numbers and provide support, but there are few prepared to take over those all important organising roles.

A typical Vintage field at the short Ugley track – two meetings scheduled for the vebnue this year.

Race entries for some classes have also dwindled. There is little support for the true vintage class, the province of mainly JAP or Rudge engined bikes. Although there are survivors, most seem to be in museums or private collections. No longer viable? Perhaps surprisingly, and depending on precise model, most, sometimes all, engine parts are still available. The 500 Speedway JAP, or the 350 Grass Track version, may have dominated the sport for decades, but are an all-too-rare sight nowadays.

There are classes for various years and capacities. The Jawa that eventually supplanted the JAP in the sixties can still be found at a reasonable price for a competitive machine. The 250 class regularly turns back the clock to when the BSA C15 and its successive incarnations remained competitive for many years.

Remember this? A typical seventies sidecar heat - except this was Swingfield in 2019

Seventies bikes, even the later four-valves, the club will always find a category for anything that conforms to the general VMCC rule of at least 25 years old. Excepted from that are the junior classes and that ever-popular GT140 class, where brand new bikes can be bought for less than the price of many a second-hand grass-track machine. The club is also hoping to entice sidecars back after a complete absence in recent years. An interesting formula will permit certain modern engines to compete against more traditional powerplants, but the outfit should look period correct. So far, it has produced results from some close racing.

So what's it all about? Find out at the first meeting of the year at Ashorne, Warwickshire on 29 March, later there are two meetings at Ugley (not far from Stansted Airport) on 28 June and 23 August for the pre-75 Championships. Other dates at Chalfont, Bucks, and Southend are still to be confirmed .