CLASS (ic) ACT
You might not have heard of the new European Endurance Legends Cup (EELC), but you probably have heard of Guy Martin and the ardent bike racing fans among you may also have heard of Pete Boast. Well, experienced racers and good mates Guy and Pete have started there assault on the new classic endurance championship in style, storming to an impressive second place finish at the recent Donington Park round.
With a growing number of top racers dipping their toes in the waters of classic bike racing, we crashed Team York Suzuki’s party to see what the fuss is all about.
In the 70s and 80s, with events like the Suzuka 8-Hour, the Bol d’Or, and Le Mans 24H, motorcycle endurance racing was a big deal and attracted loads of top riders and factory teams. The EELC aims to recreate the glory days of endurance racing by bringing together race bikes ‘built’ up to and including December 1986, so expect to see machines like Kawasaki GPZ1100s, Honda VFR750Fs, and Yamaha FJ1100s.
The problem is that most race bikes built 30 or more years ago are either in motorbike heaven or in far from original condition, with many of the bikes having been built a lot more recently, as copies of the original models. Team York Suzuki’s GSX-R1100 XR69 isRG500 bodywork, just with the holes bunged up in the seat unit where the RG’s twin cans would have poked out. It’s even running Dymag wheels and a full titanium Pipe Werx exhaust for some weight saving and a bit of added bling factor.
