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ARCHIVE The 1960s heralded an era at the Isle of Man TT races in which the various Japanese factories would finally come together to race against each other on the famous road-racing circuit. From Honda’s debut in 1959 through to their first win in 1961, Suzuki’s 1960 debut and first win in 1962, and Yamaha’s first TT of 1961, the Japanese firms began to dominate the smaller classes and the long-awaited battle between Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha in these classes finally looked to be scheduled for the 1964 Lightweight (250cc) TT race. However, only eight of the 64 riders would be able to complete the full six-lap race distance. Phil Read was fastest in practice on his Yamaha, but come the race proper, Jim Redman’s Honda led Read at the…
ARCHIVE Pierfrancesco Chili had a long, wide-ranging career: winning the European 125cc series in 1985, before racing in 250cc and 500cc Grand Prixs and moving to World Superbike in 1995, and he’s won in all those classes too… Okay, so you can mention his 1989 500cc victory was at a treacherously wet Misano circuit that was boycotted by all the works riders apart from Chili. But – he was an Italian rider, in an Italian team – and on Pirellis. He won and became something of a hate figure in GPs. He’d gotten into 500s in 1986 on the (by then) uncompetitive square-four Suzuki, before moving on to the Honda RS500 triple in 1987 where he’d finish 2nd in France. A move to the V4 Honda NSR for 1988 would…
ARCHIVE If there was a crazier, cooler concept for a one-make race series ever held on two-wheels, we’ve yet to see it… We’re talking of course about the Yamaha Pro-Am Challenge, where Yamaha supplied 24 identical RD350LCs to invited riders – a mix of professional and club racers – who would then pick an ignition key out of a hat to be allocated one of the bikes for the weekend. With a level playing field being the order of the day, often it came down to skill, guile and even a bit of cheating to get the edge to win! Riders would hang on to the grab rail of the bike in front to (literally) get a tow, they’d have a sneaky dab on a brake lever as they slipstreamed…
WIN The Weise Stealth Hoodie is a comfortable, heavy-duty cotton fleece with a removable hood. Rated AA for protection, thanks to CE armour and an abrasion-resistant lining. Find out more at www.weiseclothing.com Across 1: American company that owned Ducati before it joined the VW portfolio. (5,7,5) 8: Vital tube that runs alongside the front forks to supply stopping power. (5,4) 9 & 10 Down: One of the best circuits in the world that first hosted a GP down under 35 years ago. (7,6) 12: Race number for Niall Mackenzie when he first raced for HRC. (6) 13: The flag that warns of danger ahead. (6) 14: Charlie, podium finisher for BSA against the might of the Manx Nortons in the early years of the World 500cc Championship. (4) 15: Electronics…
Classic Racer, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs, LN9 6JR. CRletters@mortons.co.uk facebook.com/ClassicRacerMag/ 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 whether 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. IT’S ABOUT BALANCE Dear CR I have just renewed my subscription for Classic Racer, which I have been reading for many years. I always look forward to the magazine and its interesting articles. I consider myself quite lucky, as my father was a keen motorcyclist and attended many meetings, starting in the 1950s. When I was quite young, I used to read all…
Moly retires! Dave Molyneux – currently the most successful sidecar driver in the Isle of Man TT’s long history – has announced his retirement from racing. The 60-year-old Manxman made his debut in the races back in 1985 and since then has taken 17 victories, the last of which was in 2014, and 31 podiums – the final of which was with his own godson, Jake Roberts as passenger in TT 2024. A talented engineer and sidecar designer in his own right, Dave Molyneux Racing would manufacture their own chassis over the years, utilising a number of Japanese powerplants. There was a brief return to LCR, before (again) using a DMR chassis coupled with a 1000cc KTM twin-cylinder motor in 2022. Moly’s first TT finish was in 1987 with Paul…
