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08/10/03 The weather held out for the final VMCC race meeting of 2003 at Cadwell Park on 4th October. This was the first outing for the Stratford-Rudges this year. Merv was out in his usual two classes, Unlimited to 1934 and the 250cc. First race of the day was the unlimited to '34, Merv had a good spot on the front row of the grid, although he was blown away as the flag dropped, being the only 250 in the race. Other Rudges in this one were Mike Farrall (500cc) and Keith Prime (630cc). Stu Towner should have also been in action but was a non-starter due to problems in practice. At the end of the six laps Merv came home in 4th place. The race being won by Ian Bain (500cc Norton), 2nd Ian Cramp (500cc Velocette), Mike Farrall in 3rd and Keith Prime was 6th. Merv was fairly pleased with the result, but said the bike was not handling on the fast corners. Tyre pressures were altered for the first of the 250cc races to see if this improved things. A second row grid slot this time for Merv. At the end of lap one he was in 4th among the four man dice with Stu Noble (BSA) and the Royal Enfield mounted Ray Hemming and Andy Hunt. Lap 2 and Merv was up to second although still struggling heavily with the handling. By lap five he had dropped back to third, and on the last lap down to 4th, but a last corner manoeuvre on Hemming gave him third at the flag. Noble took the win with Hunt second. Rudge mounted Miki Sprosen on Tim Johnson's 2-Valver finished in 15th. Merv was still unhappy with the handling, so a thorough check of the bike was taken out and tyre pressures again altered in preparation for the final pre '34 race. The second of the unlimited to '34 races proved pretty uneventful bar the continuing handling problems. Fifth at the end of lap one and then fourth from lap two until the flag. The race was again a win for Bain, but this time Mike Farrall took second followed by Pat Welch (Cotton) in third. Keith Prime again brought his Rudge into 5th. For the final 250cc race Merv opted to try the number two machine due to the continuing problems of no 1. The no 2 machine had a fresh engine from a rebuild after Anglesey last year (June), and had not even been fired up, but she fired first time !. For this race Merv was on the fourth row of the grid. As the flag dropped Ray Hemming (Royal Enfield) took to the front with Merv following him in 2nd. However with the handling on this bike ok, Merv had a good exit from Charlie's and Passed Hemming on the Park straight to take the lead. From here on he was never headed and took the win by 4.19 seconds from Hemming, who clinched the championship from Stu Noble by taking second in the race. Rudge mounted Miki Sprosen took 17th. Merv's final race of the day and season was the champion of champions handicap. Starting from the fourth row and time delay he had a good ride to 4th place after dicing with Mike Farrall for most of the race. Mike took third behind John McMahon (Seeley G50) and John Butcher (Triumph Thunderbird). The only other Rudge being Keith Prime in 14th. All in all quite a good days racing was had although the No 1 machine now requires a complete strip down to try and find the cause of the unusual handling problems. Roy 24/09/03 Almost time for the final Races of the season, VMCC at Cadwell Park on 4th October this will be the Stratford-Rudge's first and only outing this season. Merv however precedes this with two days at Silverstone this coming weekend 27/28th September on his Water-cooled Greeves. This is my first update since coming back from the Manx GP, as I haven't seemed to be able to find any time!!. Find out how Merv got on at the Manx GP at: www.greeves-racing.co.uk Roy 7/08/03 There is just over a week to go until the start of practice for the 2003 Manx GP. Merv is all set to go, him and the Greeves had an outing a couple of weeks ago at Mallory Park for their pre-Manx shakedown and all seemed to be ok. There is plenty of Rudge related interest at the 'Manx' this year. Besides Merv, there will be Tim 'big end' Johnson on board Eddie Dudman's Velocette and Manx Nortons. Tim is the fastest man around the island on a Velo and I am sure he will be hoping to improve on that this year. He also stands a chance of being a podium man in the Junior race with the 350cc Norton, after just missing out a couple of years ago with fourth place. Werner Eckel will be making his Manx debut this year in the Lightweight newcomers race on a 400cc Honda belonging to Paul Balmain. Paul is himself riding once again this year, but switching from the Honda back to the classic Junior on a 350cc Ducati. Another Paul is Paul White, who will be contesting the Classic Lightweight on a 250cc Cotton and the Classic Junior on a 500cc Triumph mettise. Besides the Rudge men (and I know I've missed some) there will be a whole host of other VMCC racing regulars in action once again this year including the likes of Ian Cramp, who makes his debut. Ian has a 500cc Weslake for the Classic Senior and a 400cc Kawasaki for the Lightweight. We hope to bring you the Greeves action 'Live' again this year at www.greeves-racing.co.uk other info and hopefully live timing and race coverage should be available at www.iommgp.com also recommended is www.realroadracing.com and www.ttwebsite.com Roy 01/07/03 As there is not much 'Rudging' going on in the Stratford camp at the moment and I have been a bit busy with other things to update the site lately, I thought it was time for an update on what is going on for the rest of the racing season. Following Merv's spill at his first outing at Pembrey the leathers have been hung up for a while. He himself is now mended and is concentrating on the next meeting which will now be the Manx Grand Prix, where he will be riding his Greeves Silverstone in the Lightweight Classic Race (No 105). The Greeves itself has just had its complete rebuild finished following the sand excursion of Pembrey (We now have enough sand for our very own beach), and the spare engines are now next on the bench. Main sponsors for this years Manx effort are in negotiation, but there will still be some space on the fairing if anyone is interested - every little helps !! I will bring you more Manx news as it happens. Back to the Rudges because that is why you are here I guess. Merv has pencilled in the end of season VMCC Cadwell meeting for possibly their only outing this year, due to what was a planned full season on the Greeves. I See that Mike Farrell is still keeping the Rudge flag flying with some good results in the Pre '35 and 49 classes. Also good to see Keith Prime in the results again, as I try to get my head around the very mystifying HS Sports result service with all the other entries as non starters in each race and people riding all sorts of machinery !! In the 250's from what I can gather it seems to be a battle between Stu Noble (BSA) and Ray Hemming (Royal Enfield) for this years title (I hope you are keeping a check on those points Steve !) Anyway that's all for now, You should soon be able to browse through the old news items in the New archive section of the site. Roy 23/04/03 Merv had his first outing
of the season at the Classic Racing Motorcycle clubs Easter Pembrey meeting
on his Greeves Silverstone. This turned out to be an unsuccessful weekend as
a crash in his second race of the day has left him with a broken collar bone
and ribs !!, so not a good start to the season. Roy 21/03/03 VMCC Historic Racing 2003 Season Preview The 2003 championships kick off with the usual season opener at Mallory Park on Easter Sunday 20th April. Then we head south over 24/25th May to Lydden, followed by a new circuit to the calendar this year, Carnaby 2 on 14th June. Its then off to the mini "Phillip Island" which is the Anglesey racing circuit and which is popular among many riders 5/6th July. The 20th July then takes us to Cadwell Park's full circuit followed by Elvington 17th August. Then its the scratchers paradise which is Three Sisters over the weekend 13/14th September, followed a week later by races at Oliver's Mount as part of the Scarborough bike week, although not forming a championship round. The season will then come to its usual finale at Cadwell Park club circuit on 4th October. Both the early classes for Pre 1935 (Sponsored by Tuers Garage) and pre 1949 (Old Bike Mart) machines this season will see current double champion Ian Bain start as favourite on his 1928 and 1935 500cc Nortons. Also in with a chance are Mike Farrall on his 1928 500cc Rudge, and Ian Cramp on the 1929 350cc Velocette KTT. The popular 250cc championship (Palletforce) is a hard one to call, but could also see Ian Cramp start as one of the fancied runners, if he is out on the quick Ariel Leader 2-stroke machine this season. With current 250cc champ Mervyn Stratford (Rudge) only competing at selected rounds this season, we will see 2002's runner-up Ray Hemming (Royal Enfield) as one of the main favourites. Others to watch include Stu Noble (BSA) and Nigel Lines (Velocette). Nigel will be a favourite for the 350cc championship (Aston Rd Garage) on board his quick 1937 Velocette MAC. Mid-season injury put him out of the running of an almost certain championship win in 2002, so will he make up for it this year? Another rider who would have taken 350cc honours last year was Mick Hunter (Norton), had a last round fall at Cadwell Park not put him out and leaving the spoils to go to Ray Moore (Norton). In the multi-cylinder/unlimited class (Bennett Associates) last seasons top three of Phil Wade (Norton), John Butcher (Triumph) and Mark Capewell (Norton) will all start as joint favourites for the 2003 campaign. The one to watch in the 500cc class will be current champ Lee Moore (Norton), but don't count out the likes of Tim Johnson (Velocette) and Stu Tonge. Both the specials classes see Graham Williams (Triton) as the man to beat, runner-up to Phil Beaton (Rickman G50) in the up to 500cc class and champion in the over 500cc class (Big Shots) in 2002. The Formula Bantams (MAN Flying Systems) could see a showdown between the likes of Mike Powell and Martin Nash-de-Villiers, but there could be others to spoil the party, plus as usual the handicap races can throw up some surprises. In the three wheeler classes the entertainment factor will be supplied by the wild riding of Nick Weston / Kerry Williams (650cc Triumph) who took the sidecar to 1958 title in 2002, although only by a whisker from Andy / Yvonne Hunt (692cc Royal Enfield). Double champs in the sidecar to 1972 and three wheeler class (Manic Janic) Steve Harpham / Daniel Toone (BSA Windle) will again be the ones to watch in 2003 if they can stave off the challenge of the Morgans, with the likes of the ever menacing Bill / Maggie Tuer and Greg Bibby / Paula Heaney. The Champion of Champion handicap classes will again be as unpredictable as ever. Last years solo championship (Pertemps Recruitment) saw Mike Powell (Bantam) come out on top for the second successive year to hold on to the number one plate. The three wheelers (Brydon) saw Rowland Mettam / Gerry Daine take the title in the Ward-Mogvin. As an added incentive for the Champion of Champion classes this season, a prize draw will be held for qualifying competitors who arrive on the grid for the races. This will be in the format of a voucher for free entry to the next or another meeting and should boost the grids in the premier classes because you don't need to win to 'win'!! With Sponsorship from Footman-James for the season, and sponsors for various meetings including the likes of Steelcraft and the Ossie Neal Cadwell meeting and all the class sponsors as mentioned above, it looks like being an interesting and exciting season. Roy 03/01/03 Now that we are well into
the 'off-season', I expect many of you are well into re-builds and extra
tuning for the 2003 season. With the race action still far away, the first
major outing of the season will be the VMCC Racing section Dinner/Dance and
prize presentation at the Allesley Hotel, Coventry on 8th February. This
will see all of 2002's respective championship and trophy winners collecting
their silverware.
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