2/10/07

The final round of the 2007 VMCC British Historic Racing championships were held at Cadwell Park over the 29/30th of September. The meeting took the format of running on the woodlands circuit on Saturday, and the full circuit on Sunday. We were only present for Sunday's racing due to other commitments, but luckily we had the better day weather wise, as Saturday's racing proved a bit wet, with Sunday being fine and sunny.

Merv had opted only to run in the 250cc class for this final meeting, as getting two bikes ready for the one day seemed to much hassle. The first 250cc race, saw Merv line up on the front row of the grid, in a race which had the best showing of 250cc Rudges in a long while. Three 4 valve machines with Merv, Terry Williams and Mike Whittaker, and two 2 valvers with Miki Sprosen and Ian Whitehead. Merv got a good start and took the lead on lap one, closely followed by Stu Noble (Ducati). However by the end of the second lap Merv had pulled out a lead of almost two seconds over Stu, and went on to take the win by almost eight seconds. Nigel Lines (Velocette) took third, with the Rudge positions being 8th Terry Williams, 9th Miki Sprosen, 12th Ian Whitehead and 14th Mike Whittaker.

The second race saw Merv with a fourth row grid slot and not as good a start after struggling to find a way through the pack. Meanwhile Front row starter Stu Noble was away at the front. Despite pulling back almost a second a lap, Merv only managed to close in on Stu to within 2 seconds at the flag. Nigel Lines again took third, with the Rudges of Ian whitehead in 10th and Mike Whittaker 12th. Unfortunately both Terry Williams and Miki Sprosen failed to finish. I think the weekends results promoted Merv to third in the championship, despite only completing 7 250cc races this season. Ian Henshaw (Royal Enfield) takes the title, with Nigel Lines 2nd.

Other Rudge race action took place in the Unlimited to 1934 and 1948 races. The first 1934 outing saw Mike Farrall take his 1930 Ulster to third place behind Ian Bain (Norton), and Paul Dobbs (Scott). Terry Williams took 5th on his 1933 Cotton Python, with Robert Rushden 8th on his 1933 Ulster. Trevor Johnson failed to finish on Derek Leigh's 320. The second race saw a repeat of the first three, although Mike was the only Rudge finisher, as Trevor, Terry and Robert all retired.

In the 1948 races, the first outing saw the same result at the front for the first three, Terry Williams taking 5th. The second race saw Mike Farrall complete his quartet of third places, this time behind Dobbs and John Mac (Triumph), with Ian Bain being excluded for ignoring a black flag.

Well that completes a fairly successful season of Classic/Vintage racing for another year and it was nice to see a healthy turn out of Rudges and other pre-war machinery for this final meeting.

Roy

4/9/07

The penultimate round of the VMCC championships took place at the weekend (1st & 2nd September) at Lydden. This meeting was a bit of a rush for us, as we only arrived back from the Manx (report at www.greeves-racing.co.uk) in the early hours of Friday morning. So a few hours sleep, unload the van, then re-load it and off to Lydden after lunch!

Merv had opted to run two bikes again running the 250 in the 250cc class, and the '261' in the 350cc class. The first outing was in the 350 race, Merv had previously pulled in from practice on the 261 as he was not to sure of the handling. We dropped the rear tyre pressure slightly and this improved things, although we put the handling down to being 'normal', with Merv just having two weeks of riding the 'better handling' Greeves at the Manx! Merv also struggled with a few gear change problems, which we had not managed to solve since the bike was last used at Easter Mallory. After a few laps settling in he came home in 6th, the win went to Nigel lines (Velocette), 2nd Nick Bedford (Norton) and third Austen Kear (BSA).

Merv's next race in the 250cc class produced what was said to be one of the best VMCC races all season. It produced a three way battle at the front for the lead, with Merv, Nigel Lines (Velo) and Stu Noble (Farrar Ducati). Lap one saw Merv take the lead, only for Stu to snatch it at the hairpin and Merv regain it on lap two going into chesson's drift. Nigel moved up to second as the race went on. At the end of the 8 laps Merv took the win with Nigel second and Stu in third. Saturdays second 250 race was hoping to be as good, but turned out to be completely opposite and a bit of a procession! Nigel failed to make the start with Ignition problems, Stu got a good start on the Ducati, and pulled out a lead with Merv in second he settled there and cruised to the finish.

The second of the 350 races was red flagged due to a crash at paddock bend, and was run later in the programme. This again saw Nigel Lines take the win, with John Mac (AJS) 2nd and Kear 3rd, Merv had a slightly better run and brought the Rudge home 5th.

Only two other Rudges made it to Lydden, Miki Sprosen on the ex-Tim Johnson 250, although he alternated between that and a C15, and Mike Farrall on his 1930 Ulster. Keith Prime had entered his 1934 Special, but was unable to ride due to more problems with his IRM Gearbox, so he came along just as a spectator. Stu Towner was another Rudge entry not showing, as I understand he was unwell.

Mike Had two second places on the Saturday in the up to 1934 class behind Ian Bain (Norton), and a second and a win in the up to '48 class. The win in a race which saw Bain Crash out on the entry to paddock bend after John Mac's Triumph seized, with Ben Kingham (Vincent Comet) also having to take avoiding action in the 'sandwich', and took to the gravel trap!

Sunday proved another good day of action, Merv was out again first in the 350's and got a better result once more this time taking fourth behind Lines, Mac and Bedford.

The first of the 250's provided another exciting race, although with the absence of Stu Noble, he having gone home as Partner Steph was unwell. Merv had a good start off the grid, and was at the front of the pack on lap one only to miss a gear on the exit of chesson's and drop almost to the back. This alowwed Nigel Lines to extend a lead, Merv fought his way up to second and proceeded to chase down Nigel and catch him to take the lead as they crossed the line on the 6th lap. With Merv in front Nigel upped his pace and shadowed him for the remaining two laps, only for them to come across a tail ender on the final corner, with one going either side and making a sprint for line. At the flag they both thought Merv had the win, but the timing showed the win going to Nigel by .01 of a second!

The second of the 350cc races saw Nigel take another win, Merv looked as though he was going to have a better race as he was in the hunt on lap one, only for the primary chain to spit itself off at the Hairpin!

Merv's last race in the 250's got off to a good start as he had taken the lead coming out of chesson's on lap one, but carrying a bit too much front brake into Devil's elbow he dumped the Rudge, causing the rest of the pack to take avoiding action. unfortunate Cliff Shorter collected the rear of the Rudge however, and he went down also causing the red flags to come out. Fortunately both were ok. In the restart Nigel Lines took a convincing win from Ian Henshaw (Royal Enfield).

Mike Farrall took his Rudge to three second places behind Bain in the Up to 1934 and 1948 races, although having a DNF in the first outing.

So a mixed bag of results, but a good weekends racing and a little repair work to be carried out for the final outing for the Rudges at Cadwell in three weeks. More to do before then however as we are at Snetterton this weekend for the CRMC meeting on the Greeves.

Roy

18/6/07

After a successful outing at the Pre TT classic at Billown in the Isle of Man, Where Merv took another win the 250cc singles race on the Greeves, we headed north to Scotland for the Bob Mac memorial meeting. Held at East Fortune to the east of Edinburgh, this was the First visit for the Stratford-Rudges, having used the Greeves for the two previous years. Unfortunately Saturday's programme had to be completely abandoned due to the constant fine rain in the wind, which would not allow the clearing of the substantial amount of standing water on the track. After a day of hibernation everybody awoke to a dry Sunday morning into a day which turned out to be quite hot.

The programme was altered slightly to accommodate some of Saturday's trophy races, and the day started with just one practice session for each class instead of the usual two. The first race was for the 250s so Merv was out first with a grid mainly compiling of Ducatis and Suzuki T20s ! He had a fairly good start from the seventh row of the grid, to be in 7th by the end of lap one, only for the red flags to come out on lap three after an incident at the chicane. At the restart Merv did not get through quite as well and settled in to eighth for most of the race, until taking seventh on the penultimate lap. The win went to Bill Wark in a Suzuki 1-2-3-4, with Manx Gp winners Ewan Hamilton and Geoff McMullen in second and third, Stu Noble was the first of the four strokes bringing the Farrar Ducati home in 5th.

The remainder of the races were compiled from the Sunday programme, and so counted for the Sunday overall results. With the result from race one, Merv now had a second row grid slot for the second race, so this aided the start and he was up to 5th at the railway hairpin on lap one, only for the red flags to come out once more, because of a six rider pile on the first corner, at the back of the pack. With the race restarted, Merv managed a similar start with fifth at the end of lap one, and moving up to fourth on lap two ahead of the Suzuki of Philp shaw and maintaining the position to the flag. A good battle took place for the win, with it eventually going to McMullen over Wark with Ewan hamilton slightly further back in 3rd.

The last of the 250 races saw a repeat result although the battle at the front was not quite as close. Merv was closing in on 3rd placed Hamilton in the last couple of laps but just ran out of said laps to do anything about it. However after the disappointment of no racing on Saturday, fourth overall on Sunday made up for it, and judging by the 'Scottish response' they really enjoyed us taking the Rudges up there to add another bit of interest! Another Rudge was due to be out in the 250 class in the hands of Richard Lambourne, but unfortunately they just run out of time to get it ready for the meeting, so maybe next year? However despite a nasty looking crash on a 350cc Manx, Richard had a good weekend, taking home an armful of trophies for his efforts!

Other Rudge interest saw Andy Spencer with his very nice 500  Featherbed Norton-Rudge (1932 Special I think). Despite not being on the pace of the other 500's Andy had some good rides, and again added some extra interest to the meeting.

The Man of the meeting went to CRMC regular Lea Gourlay, on his Bob Mac debut, taking home a 'Van Load' of trophies after his excellent rides on Rob Lidgate's Trident and the Summerfield Manxes.

Despite Saturday it was an excellent meeting, so looking forward to next year already!!

Roy

9/4/07

The first outing of the season took place yesterday at the VMCC's traditional Easter Sunday meeting at Mallory Park. An obvious difference this year was the glorious warm weather which normally does not appear at the Easter Mallory meeting! This Winter we managed to get a few bikes back together so for the first time in a few years Merv was armed with both the Rudges, and was entered in the 250cc races, on the 250, and the 350cc races on the '261'.

A few problems in practice meant only the '250' had practice, as a small oil leak needed to be cured, as did the front brake sticking on! Anyway the first race was the 250cc, being run concurrently with the unlimited to 1934 class. Merv had a good start and took the lead from the off, only for the race to be red flagged as Tony Webb dumped his Greeves at 'Edwinas' taking Trevor Johnson (Velocette) with him. At the restart, Merv again had a good start although this time Nigel Lines (Velocette) took the lead for the first two laps with Merv taking over at the front on lap 3. The positions stayed the same to the flag with Merv taking the win and Nigel in second, with Andy Hunt (Royal Enfield) third. Miki Sprosen brought the ex-Tim Johnson 2 Valver home in ninth. In the concurrent pre '35 race the win went to the returning Ian Bain (500cc Norton CS1) with Mike Farrall on his 1930 Rudge Ulster in second and Pat Welch (500cc Cotton) third. The Rudges of Keith Prime (630cc Special) and Robert Rushton (Ulster) took 5th and 6th.

Merv's next outing was in the 350cc race on the '261'. This race proved a bit uneventful really with Merv finishing in sixth place and some 2 seconds a lap slower than his times on the 250, this probably owing to the fact this is the number two machine, which does not handle as well as the other, and a few gear selection problems when changing down. Looking at the race speed for this race had he been on the '250', he would have been dicing for the win. However the win went to classic rider Mark Woods on his BSA Goldstar, with Nigel Lines (Velo) second and Graham Buller (Manx Norton) third.

The second of the 250 races was a bit more interesting. From the line Merv again had a good start, and took the lead going into 'Edwinas' on the first lap, but selecting a neutral here didn't help and caused a bit of a panic as a few riders had to swerve to avoid him!!. So at the end of lap one he was in 8th place, and this seemed to show little hope of regaining the lead. At the front Tony Webb had taken charge. However as the lap times showed, although Merv was lapping around 1.5 seconds slower than race one because of the extra traffic, this was almost 3 seconds a lap faster than the leaders!!, and by the end of lap 5 he had retaken the lead. On the sixth and final lap the red flags came out once more as Webby had again dumped the Greeves, this time at Gerrards and taking Andy Hunt with him. Fortunately both riders were ok although a little bruised. The result was taken at the end of lap five, minus the riders causing the stoppage, with Merv taking the Win, Rob Charles (NSU) second and Ian Henshaw (Royal Enfield) third. Miki Sprosen brought his 2 valver home tenth.

The concurrently running Pre '35 race saw a repeat of the earlier result with Bain taking another win, Mike Farrall second and Pat Welch third, with Keith Prime and Robert Rushden again 5th and 6th.

The next 350 race was another uneventful one for us as Merv pulled off the Line as the Rudge was cutting out on the warm up lap. On investigation the problem turned out to be that old 'Aprillia classic', Spark Plug Trouble!! But this was actually the case, as the centre electrode had melted. New plug in and problem solved!

This just left the champion of champions handicap race and after holding around 4th or 5th place for most of the race in a battle with John Mac (Triumph), Merv finished 8th with the faster bikes coming through just at the end. Mike Farrall finished 11th on his Ulster, with the win going to Stace Kilworth (750 Triumph).

Full race results at www.theresults.co.uk

Our next outing Looks like being the Pre TT Classic in the Isle of Man with the Greeves, as the next Vintage meeting at Oulton Park clashes with the Rudge Rally. The Rudges will then hopefully see an airing in Scotland at The Bob Mac meeting in June, but we will have to see!!

Roy