Motorcycle Racers revel in the Rain
10 September 2016
Barry Sheene, one of Britain’s greatest motorcycle racers, would have been 66 tomorrow. The memory of the 1976 and 1977 500 cc World Champion, who sadly died in 2003, is regularly commemorated during the Goodwood Revival meeting with two races for historic bikes. This year, the races are for machines up to 1000cc that raced up to 1954. The first of these was held today in the pouring rain, conditions in which the leaders positively reveled.
In the event, it was the pairing of Charlie Williams and Mike Farrall who saw off the chasing post-war Nortons with the latter’s 1933 Rudge TTR. John McGuiness had been the early leader on a Manx Norton, his initial rival, double World Superbike champion Troy User falling foul of the conditions when, having clipped the chicane with his elbow, he and his BMW ended up in a puddle by the pit wall. Scott Smart was the next to challenge John, overtaking him with a cheery wave and then falling back again. By now the rain was falling hard and Norton 30M rider Steve Brogan was moving up fast and this time John received a friendly pat on the back as the pair swapped places at around 110mph. Charlie Williams was now up to third.
As is the way with such races, it was all change after the pit stops. Steve stayed out as long as possible, pitting with seconds to spare before the end of his allotted time in the saddle; Scott was in just behind him. The former’s stop was quick enough for partner Ian Bain to still be in the lead. Up to second now was a hard charging Mike Farrall who had taken over the Rudge from Charlie. He and Ian then swapped the lead back and forth, the two trying their hardest before the worsening conditions brought out the red flag. It was a remarkable victory for the elderly Rudge, the next seven bikes being mere youngsters from the 1950s.
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Editor’s Notes
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