29/09/15

The final rounds of the VMCC-BHR season took place at a sunny Cadwell Park over the weekend of the 26th/27th September. Mervyn was in action for the first time since the Mallory Park practice day in April, and took advantage of Friday's track day to get tuned in to things again. The new engine in the No 1 machine decided to eat a magneto on the track day which resulted in it not getting much track time. However with magneto swapped in the evening, it showed promise in the Saturday morning practice session. Martin Walker was also in action on the track day, he however still using his BSA C15 whilst he sorts out his Rudge for next season. He had a mixed day, with an oil leak & a split pushrod end, but got things sorted in time for Saturday's action. Mike Farrall was another of the Rudge men testing on the Friday with his 585cc D-type racer & also his Manx Norton & an Aermacchi.

Merv was out first in race one of the programme which was the combined Pre 1963 250cc & Pre 1973 250cc Specials. He had a steady ride to 5th overall & 2nd in the Pre '63 behind Ian Henshaw on the Royal Enfield, with Andy Hunt taking the pre '73 honours on his Ducati.  The second of the 250cc outings saw Merv take 4th overall & an easy class win due to Henshaw missing the start after crashing in the previous 350cc race.

The Unlimited to 1948 races saw the full Rudge trio of Merv, Mike Farrall, and Tony Perkin in action. Tony had a good start with an early lead on lap one before the sheer speed of Mike's D-Type engine took over at the front, Merv was holding on to 3rd place and gradually increasing his lap times, However Sam Rhodes was getting to grips with the 500cc Velocette & overhauled Merv to deny a Rudge 1-2-3.  Saturdays second encounter produced almost the same result but this time Simon Clover on his 500 Norton pushed Merv back to 5th.

Martin was happy with his two rides on the BSA after the previous days frantic work, his second race however was held over to the Sunday morning due to race stoppages preventing Saturdays full programme to take place. Obviously this had a knock on effect to Sunday's programme & the organisers decided to go for a one race per class format, but doubling the laps to eight, thus saving time on the start & finish procedure.

Once Sunday's programme got underway properly, the first on the card was again the 250cc race, with Merv the sole Rudge representative. Following yesterdays races, Merv was now slowly getting back into his rhythm & upping his lap times, holding 5th place overall and easily leading Henshaw for the pre '63 honours, he was closing in on the pre '73 front runners but a few gear selection problems meant he lost vital seconds and allowed Henshaw past. However all was not over as Henshaw too had gearbox problems, loosing gears altogether whilst right in front of Merv & causing the need for avoiding action. This meant Merv dropped further back from the front of the pack, but with Henshaw out, he took an easy win in the Pre '63 class.

The Unlimited to 1948 race proved another Rudge benefit with Mike Farrall taking the honours & with it a new lap record, Tony Perkin held on to second place although Sam Rhodes was snapping at his heels all race long with the Velo. Merv took another 5th place which could have been 4th as Clover went off the track at Hall bends, but caused Merv to take avoiding action when he came back on track!

Martin had to wait until almost the last race of the day for his outing on the BSA, unfortunately his race ended two laps in with some terminal engine damage! With that aside he had a good weekend, as did all of the Rudge team. It was also nice to see so many Rudge club members spectating & supporting the event.

Next year marks 50 years of VMCC racing & there is to be a special three day anniversary meeting at Cadwell in June - How many Rudges can we get on the grid for that one?

RS

 

28/03/15

Team Rudge were out in force yesterday at Mallory Park for the VMCC-BHR test day in preparation for the season opener in two weeks time. Mike Farrall, Tony Perkin, Mervyn Stratford & Martin Walker all had their Rudges on track for a shakedown. Merv was bedding in and adjusting settings on his brand new engine which had been built over the winter months. By the end of the day it was going well with just a few small issues to iron out. Martin was re-acclimatising himself to his 1934 special & Mallory park, he seemed thoroughly pleased with his day whilst noting what he plans to improve on the bike. Mike had a couple of runs out on his '33 racer, but was concentrating his efforts on getting used to his brand new Norton Manx. After the initial lack of enjoyment from the Manx after riding his Rudge!, by the end of the day he appeared to be getting to grips with it. Tony had a mixed day getting in some good laps on his Petrol engined bike, but problems with his methanol bike meant he dropped the engine out for a check up at the Rudge doctor.

Both Mike & Tony are out next weekend for the opening round of the Lansdowne series at Pembrey, whilst the full compliment of Team Rudge will be out at Mallory Park on the 11th/12th April for the VMCC-BHR season opener where the Tyrell Smith/Dave Mac trophy, now presented by the REC will be up for grabs for the best Rudge performance.

See you there!

RS