Megaphone Notes The newsletter of Classic Bike Racing Ireland Volume 1 2015
Geoff Duke 6 Time World Champion: 6 Time TT Winner 29.03.23-01.05.15 Duke was a prominent figure in racing in the 1950s. He first entered the Manx GP on the Isle of Man in 1948 on a Norton in the Junior. He didn t finish retiring after four laps with a split oil tank. The following June he was back at the TT which was then hosting the very first round of the inaugural FIM Grand Prix World Championship. He competed in and won the Junior Clubman TT and was back in September of that year to once more compete on the island at the Manx. He managed to finish second in the Junior race, despite remounting due to a crash. He then went on to win the Senior race at lap and race record pace. This was the year that brought him to the attention of the factory teams. He signed to the Norton works team for the 1950 Grand Prix season. He finished second in the Junior TT and broke both lap and race records in the Senior TT on his way to victory on the 500cc Norton. Despite winning two further races in the season including the UGP Duke only finished second in the 500cc World Championship after two DNF s. He also fell just short in the 350cc class finishing in second to Bob Foster on a Velocette. Geoff Duke won his first two World Championships for Norton in the 350cc & 500cc classes in 1951. He dominated the season winning nine of the sixteen races helding between both classes. This included three doubles winning both classes at the TT, Spa Francorchamps and the UGP. 1952 brought another World Championship on the 350cc Norton but Duke could only manage seventh on the 500. Duke moved abroad to the Italian manufacturer Gilera to ride their 500cc from 1953 to 1957. He had a string of three consecutive 500cc World Championships from 1953 with the 500cc Championship win in 1955 his last World Championship. He moved back to Nortons for his last two years of racing in 1958 & 1959. He won two further GP s in his career in 1958 at the Swedish GP at a time when the all-conquering John Surtees was busy winning every other GP. After his retirement from racing he briefly ran a Gilera team in GP s in the early 60 s. He moved to the Isle of Man in later years and had a variety of business interests including hotels and shipping. Duke was originally the first rider credited with a 100mph lap on the Mountain Course in 1955. However this was later corrected to 99.97mph before the end of the race. He also was the first rider to wear one piece leathers which he had made by a tailor in his native St Helens prior to the 1950 season. 2
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Kells Road Races The third round of the Irish Road Racing Championship took place in Crossakiel Co Meath on the weekend of the 20 th & 21 st June. Coming in to this round there had already been two road races in the North at Cookstown and a wet Tandragee. The Irish Championship leaders on the way in to Kells were Philip Shaw 250cc, Nigel Moore 350cc, Freddie Stewart 500cc and Richard Ford Unlimited. The Kells Road Races were the first round in the Southern Centre this year and a large grid of classic machines made the trip to the 2.2 mile circuit. All of the classic action including both Junior and Senior Classic races were to be on the Saturday to allow those riders who wished to travel to Mondello Park for Classic Bike Live on the Sunday. The weather started with drizzle on and off for much of the morning and it looked like a damp track would be the order of the day. However as 1pm and road closing drew nearer the sun broke through and the day would be dry from there on with only a couple of little showers which barely wetted the tarmac. The 250/350 practice was the first session up after the newcomers and the first three qualified with only a second and half between them. Barry Davidson lined up on pole from Ed Manly and Herbie Ronan. A bumper grid of 24 riders left the line in three waves for what would be an exciting race throughout the field. Ed Manly led the way for the first part of the race in the 350 class before Barry Davidson passed him on the way down to the hairpin. From there on both riders held those positions to the line but the gap was never more than a few bike lengths. Herbie Ronan took a safe third after a solitary race. The 250 class was won by the Suzuki mounted Philip Shaw who was well ahead of second placed Richard Ford. The Hondas of Brian Mateer and Gary Hutton took third and fourth place in what was a good grid of 250cc machines. The Senior Classic practice was also held in bright sunshine and a gaggle of 5 riders stayed together for most of it making it interesting to watch but they were holding each other up on the timing screen. This led to the unusual situation of Robert McCrum being third on the grid. The race though reverted back to type and with a blistering start Robert McCrum flew off the line and in to a 20m lead by Hanlon s Leap on the first lap. It was a gap he would never give up and Richard Ford had to settle for second place in the 1000cc class 14 seconds back. After a race long duel on the Honda 560 s Dave Brough got the better of Trevor Stewart to take third place in this class. 4
The 500cc class provided a spectacular race between Ed Manly and Freddie Stewart. The pair traded places down to Magee s Cross on a number of occasions with Manly taking the lead on the brakes. However by the time they returned to the start line Stewart had gotten back in front each time. On the last laps Ed had a few issues and it gave Freddie a comfortable win in the end. Although Freddie didn t realise Ed had dropped off and made his only mistake of the race after the flag. In looking back to find his closest competitor he went for a look at the grass before getting back on the tarmac! Third place in the 500cc class went to Billy Lyle. Classic Bike Live 2015 Mondello Park The second rounds of the MCI Southern Centre and CBRI Championships took place in Mondello Park on Sunday 21st June. This was the day after the Kells Road Races and a good number of riders made the trip down from Co Meath on Saturday night to join those that normally compete on the short circuits. The day started and stayed dry for the racing even if a few minutes of light rain did cause some anxious looking at the clouds and hoping for the best. Unfortunately this little patch of rain happened during qualifying! There was a full grid of 23 bikes who took to the track for that qualifying session which was slightly disrupted somewhat by the drizzle but did lead to most of the usual top riders on the first few rows of the grid. The first race was away just after midday and Herbie Ronan stormed to a 350 class and the overall race win on his Honda. Seeley G50 mounted riders were the next two riders home on track. Second overall in Race 1 and first 500 was Dave Hickie, he was also the only rider other than the race winner to dip under 1min 10 mark in the race. Third to the flag overall and second in the 500 class which unfortunately was to be his only finish of the day was Pat Murray. Second place in the 350 class went to the BSA mounted Tony Willis who was at his smooth best to keep the single flying. Gary Jamison riding a 350 for a change took the last 350 podium place. Third in the 500 class went to Kevin Callan who was involved in a four way scrap through the race. He led home a group consisting of Gerry O Sullivan, Sean Henry and Ivan Crowe with only 1.3 seconds covering them at the line. The 250 class win went to newcomer this season Ken Parkes who lead Brian Matthews across the line both mounted on Hondas. The second race went to the same class winners as earlier in the day with Herbie Ronan leading home Dave Hickie overall once more. Gary Jamison took third overall and finished second in the 350 class with Tony Willis next. Gerry O Sullivan was the second 500 home but he was chased in the overall race by Ian Thompson from Armagh who was riding well on his 350 Honda but had to settle for seventh overall. There were two other good battles on the line with each pair 5
of riders only separated by less than a second. In the end Bill Smyth on the Ducati got the better of Ivan Crowe and Liam White finished in front of Keith Baxter. The final race of the day had the smallest grid of the day due to the normal attrition and a few fallers who were all ok but weren t out in this race. The first four places overall once again went to Herbie Ronan, Dave Hickie, Gary Jamison and Tony Willis. The third placed 350 was Ian Thompson (63) with Gerry O Sullivan the second 500. A red flag on lap 5 brought a slightly premature end to the day but the fallen rider was fine. With the amount of miles covered during the weekend it was decided to retire to the hospitality suite for some refreshment rather than restarting. So once all the points had been added up from all three races on the day the prizes where given to all of the below riders in each class. All riders who took part where awarded a memento to thank them for coming and providing such a great grid of machines. The Dave Manly Perpetual Trophy was awarded to Gary Jamison for his services over many years to classic racing in Ireland on both roads and circuits. This special award is decided by Gillian Manley and many to her for coming to present it. 250cc 1st Ken Parkes Honda 2nd Brian Matthews Hogg Honda 350cc 1st Herbie Ronan Honda 2nd Gary Jamison Honda 3rd Tony Willis BSA 4th Ian Thompson (63) MB Honda 500cc 1st Dave Hickey Seeley G50 2nd Gerry O Sullivan Honda 3rd Pat Murray Seeley G50 A final massive thank you has to go out to Dunboyne Motor Club who managed all of the admin for this event. They did all of the entries, sign on, provided copious amounts of tea, coffee and sandwiches. This event could not function without them so thanks to Tim Crowley, Paula Digan and all of the Dunboyne team who worked so hard on the day so we could go racing. 6
Skerries 100 Road Races The fourth round of the Irish Road Racing Championship stayed south of the border with the Skerries 100 on the 4 th of July which is often considered the premier southern Road Race. All the elements were in place for a typical Skerries with the good weather and large crowds once again flocking to North County Dublin. However the event became one of somber remembrance for a hero of the sport. Sadly during the opening lap of a practice session Dr John Hinds had an accident and passed away the next day. It goes without saying that the CBRI add its voice to the masses of rightly deserved tributes that Doc John and the rest of the medical team have received during this period. 7
On the circuit there was a very big grid of 23 Junior Classic bikes who left the paddock to start this race. The rain of overnight had given way to the typical Skerries sunshine and the circuit was dry everywhere by race time. The 250cc class was once more won by defending Irish Champion Philip Shaw. Alan Bud Jackson was second and Richard Ford rounded out an all Suzuki top three. Fourth and fifth was decided by only.022 of a second with Gary Hutton getting the better of Brian Mateer after 6 laps of the 2.92 mile track. The 350 class was won by Barry Davidson with Ed Manly in second. Ed was unable to close the gap that was built up early on by Davidson but never let him get any further away than a handful of bike lengths. Sean Leonard was third and Sam Kinkead came fourth. The Senior Classic win was taken by Robert McCrum although Richard Ford stayed quite close to McCrum in second. The third big Classic to finish was John Scott on his Triumph. The grids were decided by championship positions and this had the biggest effect on the 500cc class. Ed Manly came through on Tony Carton s bike from the second wave to take an 8 second win. The next three riders home were together from the start and provided good close racing for the large crowds around the circuit. In the end the second step on the podium was held on to by Manxman Alan Brew from Barry Davidson taking his second podium of the day. Freddie Stewart just missed out on the podium places as he came home just behind the two riders in front. 8
Race of the South Walderstown Eight days later and the Road Racing paddock had moved west to Co Westmeath for the 2015 Race of the South. Walderstown is where this race has been held since 2000. The original Race of the South was held on the Fore village course from 1973 to 1987. Once again the Junior Classic was the first of the classic races out. The weather was overcast but every now and then the sun would break through and warm the large crowd but rain also seemed a possibility all day. Barry Davidson took his Honda to a flag to flag victory in which he was never really threatened. Herbie Ronan was holding Sean Leonard off for the first few laps, however once Sean got past he was able to hold a one second gap until the end. George Stinson took a safe fourth from the ever consistent Freddie Stewart in fifth. In a new departure for the club and to help in a small part with the running of a road race Classic Bike Racing Ireland were the proud sponsors of the Junior Classic race at Walderstown this year. This is consistent with our aims to support not only short circuit racing which we do through our CBRI Championship but also to promote Road Racing as best we can. Philip Shaw was leading the 250cc class for 5 laps until he was forced to retire. This left Gary Hutton to take the win on the 200cc Honda. Alex McVicker was second with Dave Crawford getting his first podium of the year by coming in in third place. The 1000cc class win was taken by a very large distance by Robert McCrum from the second place finisher Trevor Stewart. This victory for McCrum and with Richard Ford not being at Walderstown has led to McCrum overtaking Ford for the 1000cc Irish Championship lead by 15 points. The 500cc class again provided riveting racing. Freddie Stewart lead from the off but had Alan Brew tucked in behind him all the way. The rain that had threatened a few times during the day decided that during the last lap and a half would be the perfect time to have a cloud burst. As Freddie Stewart swept across the line to take another class win Alan Brew had fallen back in second. Gary Hutton completed a good day personally by taking a fine third although Billy Lyle did close up noticeably when the rain fell. 9
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CBRI Short Circuit Championship Positions 11
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