Smeatharpe 16/03/24

The first meeting of the year at Smeatharpe (Dakota Raceway) is often a bit of a lottery weather-wise, and this year was no different.

Saturday dawned very cold and damp, with the track giving little grip.

There was a small window of opportunity during the morning runs when the track had dried out which allowed most people to put in their best runs of the day. By late morning and into lunch time the weather closed back in with gradually worsening drizzle, after the lunch break the track was pretty soaked and although some of us ventured out it was clear no decent times were going to happen and not long after that we called it due to the conditions.

Some forty riders had turned out with a good spread of vintage and modern, Juniors and scooters, there have been a few class changes over the Winter, more of which as we go along.

Taking full advantage of the brief dry track was Simon Havercroft on his Blackjack Suzuki  (Unlimited Racing) with a [email protected] mph for FTD, close behind was Pete Ford on his blown 750 Suzuki (750cc Racing), 10.12s@141 mph, Ian Wicks, 'Busa 1300 (Unlimited Racing) 10.18s@134 mph, Steve Everett, 'Busa 1300, now running in Unlimited Racing due to the rule changes for the Road Bike class, [email protected] mph and Paul Hayman on his Suzuki GSXR 1000 (1000cc Racing), 10.28s@134 mph.

Just to round up, in 750cc Racing the only other runner was Alex Taylor, not sure what the bike was, [email protected] mph.

In 1000cc Racing, Rob Wareham, Yamaha FZ1, ran [email protected] mph, Paul Cleall, Kawasaki ZX9, [email protected] mph and Kerry Herrington, Suzuki GSXR 1000, [email protected] mph.

Unlimited Racing was the most popular class with 9 riders, after the top 3 it was Mark Taylor, having left the Harley sofa at home, Kawasaki ZX9R, [email protected] mph, Pete Herrington on his now very nicely 'wrapped' 'Busa, [email protected] mph, Pete Wise with just a single, troubled, run on his 'Busa, 12.0s@ a slowing 79.2 mph, Paul Taylor on his venerable Blackbird, [email protected] mph, Tom Davidge on a Suzuki GSXR 1100, a single run, [email protected] mph and Tony Davidge on the big Suzuki GS 1500, [email protected] mph.

In 500cc Racing it was between the two KH500 Kawasaki triples, Pete McGuiness on top with a [email protected] mph, just ahead of Kerry Phillips, 12.3s@110 mph.

In 250cc Racing, Stuart Buchanan had spent most of a day at the 'dyno man', only to discover that the original stock exhausts, rather than the trick 'tuned' exhausts, suited the engine better and gave a more useable spread of power, maybe the engineers at Honda did know what they were doing?! Anyway, he got the two stroke V twin down to [email protected] mph. Then came Andy Webb on the ultra-rare Harley Davidson/Aermacchi 250RR racing two stroke. This was its first proper run out having been stripped and re-assembled and it certainly sounded good. Andy also commented that when it hit the power band it went like ****! He ran a couple of gentle fifteens but with a nippy terminal of 96.3 mph! Then it was Pete Thomas, not in Vintage for a change, on a Honda CB250 RS with just a couple of runs, the best being [email protected] mph.

Gill Pacey was the only runner in 125cc Racing on her Yamaha TZR, [email protected] mph.

A good turnout of Juniors, who now only race alongside another Junior or solo.

In 70cc Auto, young Leo Wareham has started his own PR campaign! He spent the morning before racing touring the paddock handing out his own promotional stickers, and particularly good they are too! He was the only entrant in the class, taking his Gilera 50 to [email protected] mph.

In 125 Auto/Semi Auto, Jorja Cleall on her Honda 125 made the most of the day, managing 6 runs, with a best of  [email protected] mph, from Seb Wareham, Ten 90r, [email protected] mph.

In 125 GP / 250 4 stroke single unrestricted, Max Curtis was again the only runner on his Hagon 250, [email protected] mph.

Finally, in a new class for 500 4 stroke production twins, Chloe Hayman established the class benchmark with 21.23s@59 mph.

With the Vintage classes reorganised for this year, in the Up To 350 class, Richard von Mach celebrated by taking his Ariel Arrow 250 under his own record (14.97s) with a fine 14.61s@88 mph. Richard Morgan was next on one of his two Rudges', this one a methanol breathing 350, [email protected] mph, and Doug Kenyon on his Velocette 350, [email protected] mph.

In the other Vintage class, Unlimited, it was  John Young on his Tri/JAP 500 on top, [email protected] mph, from Mark Richards Triumph 500, [email protected] mph, Tony Lockwood on his Tri/JAP 500, [email protected] mph, Richard Morgan on his other Rudge, a 500, [email protected] mph and, only just behind, Rob Moon on the Jawa 500, [email protected] mph.

Another class change for this year is for the scooters.

In the renamed Classic Scooter, it was Nigel Howard on his Vespa 150 topping the charts, [email protected] mph but only just from Paul Gurney on his Lambretta 244, [email protected] mph and Stuart McVicker on his similar Lambretta, [email protected]  mph.

The new class, Open Scooter is for more 'radical' machines, as if they were not bonkers enough to start with!

Mike Pacey opened the class with a Rotax 335 powered Lambretta, which proved something of a handful but set the new class benchmark at [email protected] mph, from Shaun Nickells on a Lambretta 260, [email protected] mph.

In Classic (Non-Jap) Up to 500cc, Andy Webb was the only runner, hopping swiftly from the Harley onto his usual Aermacchi 350 and running [email protected] mph.

Another renamed class for this year is Classic Open up to 1500cc, Steve Mundy on his Foale Z1 ran 12.59s@104 mph from Jason Winterson on his Yamaha XS 707, [email protected] mph.

The new Road Bike class regulations are designed to make competing machines more 'stock', no extended swingarms or lowered forks and a tested minimum 4 inch ground clearance, eek, even I only just squeaked through that with a standard Triumph 675 Street Triple, mind you, it might have helped if I had actually put some air in the tyres!

I was the only runner in any of the Road classes, and despite having the embarrassment of needing a bump start when the battery went flat on the start line, it was very cold overnight and obviously did it no good, I managed [email protected] mph.

Finally, an honourable mention goes to Jack Taylor for the highest wheelie for the season, quite how he hung on and got it down under some sort of control, check out the picture!