May - June 2022

Classic Racer

Where legends live on

Classic Racer1 min read
Classic Racer
Bertie Simmonds bsimmonds@mortons.co.uk Tim Hartley thartley@mortons.co.uk Don Morley, Mick Ofield, Alan Cathcart, Phil Aynsley, Stuart Barker, Fred Pidcock, Ben Rumbold, Mark McCloskey,Tony Greenslade Sarah Wilkinson Michael Baumber Paul Fincham Jon
Classic Racer2 min read
Vindication!
Back in 1981 I knew I had a chance, and was confident of an Isle of ManTT victory when I lined up for the start of the Formula One race. Graeme Crosby had a chain problem so wasn’t allowed to set off at his allocated time slot: instead he was made to
Classic Racer2 min read
Laps Of The Gods!
For the 1967 SeniorTT, Mike Hailwood faced a bit of a challenge in his bid to score his second hat-trick of wins around the Isle of Man course – but lady luck was smiling… This was the diamond jubilee week for the event and Giacomo Agostini had lappe
Classic Racer2 min read
Mission Impossible!
Did anyone really think that even with the combination of Steve Hislop’s amazing talent and the sheer speed of the Norton NRS588 that they would win the 1992 Senior TT? The Formula 1 saw Hizzy take a 2nd place behind Honda’s Phillip McCallen, and rea
Classic Racer2 min read
Star Letter
Dear CR, It was a superb piece on Geoff Duke in March/April Classic Racer. Articles such as this really typify the excellence of your magazine. I was fortunate enough to watch Geoff at his peak during his Gilera days. There is no doubt that he, alon
Classic Racer4 min read
Readers Write
Dear CR, In 1979 (as usual), I was at the TT. I watched the ClassicTT from the park on Glencrutchery Road and after the race I wandered back through the paddock to go back into Douglas. There were two youngsters in the paddock, one on a BMX-style bi
Classic Racer6 min read
Paddock Gossip
Wayne Rainey, the three-time 500cc world champion, will ride his iconic 1992 title-winning Yamaha YZR500 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year, marking 30 years since the Californian won his final Grand Prix title. Wayne, whose amazing battles
Classic Racer1 min read
If You Want To Get In Touch…
Then please do. We read every letter, email, and comment sent to us and we enjoy hearing from you... if you’ve an event coming up, a motorcycle you own, or just want to let us know about something you find interesting in Classic Racer’s world. ■
Classic Racer10 min read
GALLIC Great!
In the late 1980s there was a widening gap between 500GP racing’s haves, and have-nots – which is to say, between the works V4s, including the fledgling Italian Cagiva team, and the mostly Honda or Yamaha-mounted privateers. The only way to avoid als
Classic Racer5 min read
Whatever Happened To? WALTER RUSK
It sounds so simple, produce more power and the bike will go faster. However, for straight-line speed to translate into correspondingly lower lap times the cycle parts must be up to the task, and occasionally that doesn’t quite happen. Suzuki’s first
Classic Racer1 min read
FIOR 500-4 - Specification
Engine: Liquid-cooled crankcase reed-valve in-line four-cylinder two-stroke Dimensions: 56 x 50.6 mm Capacity: 499 cc Output: 150bhp at 12,200rpm (at gearbox) Compression ratio: 7.5:1 Carburation: 4 x 38mm Dell’Orto guillotine carburettors Cyli
Classic Racer7 min read
Wacky Racers!
For eight successive seasons the world’s first – and so far only – Rotary-engined race bikes swept to serial success on British racetracks, and whether you were a jingoistic Brit, waving a patriotic flag for the rotaries, or doubtful of their legalit
Classic Racer4 min read
1994 Britten V1000
For a country with a population of only five million, New Zealand has had a disproportionate influence on road-racing over the years. Kiwi riders have always had a presence in international road-race paddocks, the Britten though is the first world-cl
Classic Racer12 min read
The Motorcycling Musketeer!
Just more than 20 years ago, on December 13, 2001, the motorcycle world lost one of its greatest free thinkers and most innovative engineers, when 46-year old Frenchman Claude Fior was tragically killed at the controls of his self-built private plane
Classic Racer13 min read
First Blood Schwantz Vs Rainey
Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey had already clashed in the AMA Superbike championship in the States, but it was their monumental battles in the 1987 Transatlantic Challenge that turned dislike to hate and began one of the most bitter grudge matches e
Classic Racer8 min read
Talented Tony!
From enjoying a short but spectacular career as a racer, to running one of the country’s best bike dealerships, to guiding the career of a TT legend, Tony Jefferies’ entire life revolved around motorcycles. As the son of trials expert, TT racer, and
Classic Racer1 min read
Shell Oils Transatlantic, Brands Hatch/Donington Park, April 17-19, 1987
1: Kevin Scwhantz (Suzuki) 2: Wayne Rainey (Honda) 3: Michel Mercier (Suzuki) 1: Rainey 2: Schwantz 3: Gary Goodfellow (Suzuki) 1: Schwantz 2: Rainey 3: Goodfellow 1: Rainey 2: Schwantz 3: Goodfellow 1: Schwantz 2: Richard Scott (Honda) 3: Phil Mello
Classic Racer2 min read
Riding with DJ
Being confined to a wheelchair was never going to stopTony Jefferies riding with his son, so when the chance to do a parade lap in the Darley Moor Past Masters Cavalcade came along in 1994, Tony didn’t hesitate. “We thought we’d better have a practic
Classic Racer10 min read
Fast Eddie: Mondello to Macau!
Motorcycles came to Eddie Laycock at an early age, in fact he had just turned 11 when he got his hands on a BSA Bantam. He enlisted the help of a neighbour, who was a spannerman for racer Denis Clancy, to check it over and get it started. Eddie’s mai
Classic Racer4 min read
Back In The Day
RAY SLACK SAYS: “Maybe this might be of use for the ‘Back in the Day’ feature? At the beginning of the 1962 world championship season, five of the best riders in the world were recognised as the MV Agusta pairing of Mike Hailwood and Gary Hocking, an
Classic Racer9 min read
Team-hates!
Earlier in this issue, we look at one of racing’s great rivalries – Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz – but just imagine if they were on the same team? It could have happened, maybe, possibly, but then Kevin has gone on record saying maybe he couldn’t
Classic Racer2 min read
Lovely Loctite!
My appreciation for motorcycle racing really started when I was 16, back in 1988. I was free at last, and had my own motorcycle that I could get out into the big wide world on. Going to Brands Hatch to watch the British national ‘Supercup’ meetings o

Classic Racer

More Issues From Classic Racer