1/10/12

The final rounds of the 2012 VMCC-BHR season were held at Cadwell Park on 29th/30th September. Once again there were only two Rudge mounted men in action, Merv on his 250 & "261" & Alex Rummel on his '34 Special again making the trip over from Switzerland to compete at his favourite UK circuit.  Merv was out first in the pre '63 250cc class which as mostly this season ran concurrently with the pre '72 250cc specials.  The pre '63s were at the back of the split grid all weekend, so there was a fair bit of traffic to contend with on the opening laps, however at the end of lap one Merv comfortably held the lead in the pre '63 class over Ducati mounted Rob Graham as he proceeded to chase down the two pre '72 front runners Richard Molnar (Ducati) & Jack Scrivener (Greeves Silverstone). By the end of lap two Merv had the whole pack behind him and went on to complete the win. 2nd in the Pre '63 went to Rod Graham followed by Angela Cragg on a 250cc Manx. The second 250cc race later in the day produced the same result for the pre '63 class, with the win for Merv cementing his 29th championship win.  The race itself this time produced an exciting finish with Merv complacently heading the dual class field going into the final lap only for pre' 73 runner Molnar to pass Merv going into park corner, Merv immediately upped the pace but could not quite do enough & was 0.18 seconds adrift at the flag.

The 350cc races saw Merv in action on the 261 Rudge. Race one produced a 4th place behind Andy Molnar (Manx), Graham Buller (Manx) & Seb Perez (7R). Race 2 saw a similar result for Merv with just the 2nd & 3rd places reversed.

Alex was in action in the in the Pre '49 Unlimited class on his 500cc Special & took an eleventh place finish after a battle with Simon Lewis (Triumph) & Mike Harrison (New Imperial). Ian Bain (Norton CS1) took the with from the Velocette pairing of Ian Cramp & Sam Rhodes. Saturday's second pre '49 race was held over until Sunday morning. Alex took 9th this time ahead of Simon Lewis. Rhodes took the win from Bain & Cramp in the early damp conditions.

In Sunday's 250cc races Merv looked to have some competition with the arrival of old adversary Tony Webb on his Greeves.  As the first race kicked off it looked as if an exciting battle was going to unfold as Webby moved to the front of the field with Merv in hot pursuit. As the pair crossed the line for the first time they split the timing beam dead level, with Merv passing Webby for the lead as the went towards coppice. At the end of lap two Merv held the advantage by 0.78 of a second as the pair left the rest of the field in the distance. The end of lap three & Webby was missing having seized the Greeves on the Park straight to leave Merv to take the win at the end of the 4 laps by 13.5 seconds from Angela Cragg & Charles Davies (Ducati).  The second outing saw another win for the Stratford-Rudge, with this time Nigel Lines (Velocette) picking up second place.

The 350cc races saw Merv take a 5th place in race one, but by the time the second event came around conditions had turned to rain & produced a good leveller for 89cc disadvantage of the Rudge, producing an exciting race. Lap one saw Molnar lead Nick Bedford (Manx), with Merv just 0.1 seconds down & moving up to second by lap two. At the reduced 3 lap race Merv brought the Rudge home second, 0.94 down on Molnar.

Alex was having his best rides ever at Cadwell in the pre '49 class, taking another 9th place in race one, again just in front of Simon Lewis and he took a fine fith place in race two, which also earned him the REC Keith Scott Prime trophy for the first Rudge home in the last Pre '49 race of the season.

Roy

1/8/12

Lydden hosted the fourth meeting of the 2012 VMCC-BHR season over the 28th/29th July. Despite a lower than usual entry the weekend produced some good racing in good weather. There were only two Rudge riders in action, Merv in the 250cc & 350cc classes & Alex Rummel in the Unlimited to 1948 class on his '34 Special.  Merv opened his account in the Pre '63 250cc races with a comfortable win in race one over Belgian rider Rik Wambacq who was competing in the concurrently running Pre '73 specials class on a Benelli 2C. 2nd place in the Pre '63 category went to Rob Stafford on his BSA.

Merv's next outing was in the 350cc race onboard the Rudge '261', This race had three concurrent classes with the Pre 63 350s running alongside the Pre '73 Specials & the Pre '49 Unlimited. Merv took the lead in this one on lap 2 from Nick Bedford (Norton Manx) & held on to the lead from the chasing pack until lap 6 when Dave Matravers came through on the pre '73 Manx, followed by Graham Buller (Manx) on lap 7. At the end of the 10 lap race, Merv took 4th overall & 3rd in the pre 63. Alex Rummel took 6th place in the concurrent Pre '49 race.

Saturday's second 250cc race produced another good race with Belgian rider Wambacq taking an early lead. Merv chased him down from a back row start to within striking distance only for the backmarkers to come into play in the closing laps to deny any opportunity of a pass, with the difference being 0.54 seconds at the flag. Though he comfortably took the win in the pre '63 class from again 2nd placed Rob Stafford.

The next 350cc/Unlimited race turned out to be a non-event for the Rudge duo as both Merv & Alex pulled out on the warm up lap, a whiskered plug on the 261 being the cause of Merv's non start, and Alex was out due to a carburettor blockage.

Saturday concluded with a paddock party with BBQ, Beer straight from the Barrel & a live band !

Sunday's action never started until lunch time, due to the local planning regs, however this allowed the racing to miss the morning downpours, with everything drying out by the time racing began.  Again Merv's first outing was in the 250s, again he had to fight his way through from the back, with Wambacq again getting an early lead & this time pulling out a bit of an advantage, which Merv couldn't close in. However when the results came out it transpired Wambacq had jumped the start & was given a time penalty handing Merv the overall win. Stafford (BSA) was again the second of the pre '63 250s. Sunday's second 250cc outing produced another win from Stafford in the Pre '63, with Wambacq on the Benelli 2C taking the overall win.

The first 350cc race saw Merv again in the battle for the front positions, however on lap two whilst trying to go up the inside at the hairpin he changed down a bit to early causing some slight over revving, resulting in some bent exhaust valves!! Alex upheld the Rudge honour though, by taking 5th place in the pre '49 Unlimiteds after a good battle with Trevor Johnson (Velocette). The final 350 outing of the weekend produced another close race at the front, with Merv again taking to the front on lap one, Graham Buller (Manx) briefly took the lead on lap three, only for Merv to snatch it back again at the start of lap four.  On lap five however both Buller & Matravers came through pushing him back to 3rd. At the end of the eight lap outing Matravers took the win, with Merv taking 3rd in the Pre '63s behind Buller & Seb Perez (AJS 7R).  Alex brought his Rudge home fourth in the Pre '49 unlimited after another battle with Trevor Johnson.

Roy

20/6/12

The annual Bob McIntyre memorial meeting at East Fortune took place at the weekend. Unfortunately the good Scottish weather of late turned & we were met with a wet weekend! Saturday being the worst, timed practice went ahead anyway, but the clerk of the course deemed the conditions unsuitable for racing, so competition had to wait until Sunday.

Sunday's weather proved slightly better, still raining but less so without the standing water on the track. Slick organisation by the SCRMC meant that despite loosing a day's racing only one round of races was slimmed from the programme. The rounds before lunch being Saturday's programme & the two after being Sunday's. Mike Farrall provided the first of the Rudge action with an outing in the 500cc Class on his 1930 Ulster. He took a 12th place finish to start off proceedings, with a best place of 7th in the four 500cc races of the day. He was also in action in the unlimited class on his 580cc 'D' type in which he bagged a couple of 5th place finishes over the day.

Merv was in action in the 250cc class against a field of mainly Japanese & Italian machinery. The first two wet races saw him take two second places after a battle with the Suzuki T20 of Tom Jackson. The third race was held in dryer conditions, but with the track still wet in many places and the race at the front was still between Merv & Jackson. At half distance Merv took the lead at the hairpin in an out braking manoeuvre, only for Jackson to grab it back on acceleration, but to the cheer of the crowd at the chicane, Merv once again took Jackson on the brakes to take the lead. He pulled out a small margin over the next lap & took the win at the flag by 0.89 seconds. The final race provided a similar battle with Merv shadowing Jackson for most of the race & then taking the lead at the hairpin on lap 5. Jackson used the speed of the Suzuki to regain the lead on lap 6 & eventually take the win.

Next meeting is VMCC-BHR Lydden 28/29th July

Roy

20/6/12

The weekend of 19th/20th May saw a good Rudge showing at the Schleizer Classic Grand Prix in Germany. Some confusions with the organisers of the event saw there to be an overall smaller vintage entry than last year, but none the less a quality one. The two races over the weekend provided the Rudge team with four podiums as both Mike Farrall and Merv took 2nd & 3rd in both races behind the Norton of Thomas Fritsch. Andreas Ulm bagged himself a pair of 5th places on the ex-Terry Williams Cotton-Python, and Hansueli Wyssen took a 6th in race two on his Rudge. Dutchman Reinder Van Doodewaard unfortunately never managed a result in either race, due to a flakey fuel tank blocking up the carburettor.

17/4/12

The first round of the 2012 VMCC-BHR season got underway at Mallory Park on Sunday in mostly dry conditions. The Rudge entry was down to three riders with Merv, Mike Farrall & Chris Wickett. Merv was first in action in the up to 1962 250cc class which this season runs concurrently with the up to 1972 250cc specials class. He got a good start off the front row starting grid & led the pack into Gerrards on lap one. Unknown to the watching crowds & chasing park, the rear left hand chain stay of the Stratford-Rudge sheared halfway round lap one, & Merv had an exciting ride round Devil's elbow at the end of lap one!!. Ian cramp (Greeves) closed the gap on Merv as he eased the pace slightly only to up it again when he realised they were closing in. He continued to lead for the next four laps with the broken frame!, only for the Red flag to come out at the end of lap five as Rod Graham dumped his Ducati at the hairpin. The result was given at half distance with Merv taking the win from Charles Davies (Ducati).

Merv was out next in the 350cc race on the '261', after a reasonable start he ended up in a battle for fourth place eventually taking fifth at the flag.

The second 250cc outing required the use of the 'No 2' machine due to the earlier frame breakage. This time Merv was at the back of the grid as the positions are reversed for race 2, however he passed the majority of the pack around Gerrards on lap one & embarked on a race long battle with Adrian Armson (Cotton Telstar) from the concurrently running Specials class for the overall race lead. The pair swapped places every lap, but Armson took the overall win, with Merv taking the win in the up to '62 class.

The next 350cc outing saw Merv overhaul all but one of the Manx Nortons, to take 2nd Place from Andy Molnar on his Manx.

Mike & Chris were in action in the up to 1948 Unlimited races, with Mike on his 1933 'D' type engined machine & Chris on his 1937 250 2 Valve. Mike had a race long battle with Ian Cramp (Velocette KTT) in race one. Ian Bain (Norton CS1) had taken the early lead only to overshoot the hairpin & drop back. He pulled back up to pip Mike for second, with Cramp taking the win. Chris brought his 250 home in 8th place.

The second race & the last of the day saw an exciting 3 way battle for the lead between Farrall, Cramp & Bain. After fending off a couple of attacks from Cramp, Mike looked to have it in the bag as he lead into the last lap, only for the top of the carb to come loose causing the throttle to stay wide open as he went into Gerrards!! He eventaully managed to get the screaming engine stopped at Edwinas in a cloud of burning clutch & brakes! Bain managed to snatch the win from Cramp. Chris also retired from the race on lap one.

The Chain stay !

Roy