PRO-AM!
“The Pro-Am series was mental and we got up to stuff that you’d never get away with in any other racing class,” says, Niall Mackenzie.
“We used to dab each other’s front brakes going along the straights, pull on the pillion grab rail of the rider in front to get a tow, and even hold our own front forks to make a more aerodynamic shape on the bike. In fact – anything to gain another one-mile-an-hour on our rivals: it was brilliant fun and helped by the fact that no one took it too seriously.”
Mackenzie is, of course, speaking of the one-makeYamaha Pro-Am series which ran on British circuits from 1981 to 1984.There have been plenty of one-make championships over the years, from theTriumph SpeedTriple Challenge, The Honda CB500 Cup to the Virgin Yamaha R6 Cup (see page 66) but none have quite captured the imagination of bike fans like the Pro-Am which, as its name suggests, featured a mix of professional and amateur riders all on identicalYamaha RD350LCs with the keys for the bikes literally being picked out of a hat at each round to ensure
