How it used to be in’t olden days of racing... 🏍️ 🚗 💨

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John Surtess has a record that i can't see ever being beaten, to hold the F1 World champion and the Motorcycle world champion!! He was a very special man.:love:
He had his own collection of cars and bikes that he won championships on they were all brought together for three laps of goodwood. My video is too large to post
 
He had his own collection of cars and bikes that he won championships on they were all brought together for three laps of goodwood. My video is too large to post
Yes i watched a program on him at his house showing of his motors and bikes, a very very mouth watering bunch of MVs. Shame about the vid, i will have a look on youtube to see if there is anything on there. What year was that?
 
John Williams at the TT in the 1976

"Works Suzuki rider John Williams was hot favourite for the 500cc Senior TT and an opening lap of 110.71mph duly gave him a commanding 44 second lead over Tom Heron – at the same time entering the record books as the first rider to lap the TT Course at more than 110mph.

A scorching lap of 112.27mph for his second circuit added to his advantage, and it seemed to those watching that he was having a trouble-free race. This was far from the truth, however, with the clutch failing to operate from Ballacraine on lap one – just 7 miles into that first record-breaking lap. Then, with less than two laps to go, the steering damper broke.

With a lead of almost three minutes, he decided to keep going, but a selector fault made it almost impossible to change gear, or even for John to know what gear he was in.

By good fortune he was able to find bottom gear for the slowest corners and was soon tantalisingly close to a famous win. Then, as Williams negotiated Governors Bridge for the final time, the engine stalled. He pushed the big Suzuki for what remained of the race - an agonisingly short distance of 600 yards. Exhausted, he collapsed at the finish, crossing the line in seventh."

Having already put himself in the record books at the Ulster Grand Prix and North West 200, being the first rider to take a hat-trick at each, the Cheshire rider eventually took a hugely impressive 16 international road race wins only for a crash at the 1978 Ulster GP to claim his life whilst still very much at the peak of his profession.

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Derek Minter on the Manx Norton.

One of Britain’s greatest short circuit racers, Derek Minter, died on Friday, January 2 2015. He was 82 and had been in ill-health for some time. Best known for his prowess on British tracks and known as the original “King of Brands” he was a multiple champion, mostly on Manx Nortons tuned either by Ray Petty or Steve Lancefield.

This was in the late fifties and sixties when he was competing against the likes of Mike Hailwood, Bob McIntyre, John Hartle and John Cooper. But he was also a regular and successful competitor in world championship events in Europe and in the Isle of Man when the TT was a championship event.

In 1960 Minter was the first rider to lap the thirty seven and three quarter mile course at over 100mph on a single cylinder machine in a race won by Surtees with Hailwood third.
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In 1962, he won the Lightweight 250cc TT on a privately entered Honda beating the works machines.

A year later (1963) he was chosen, together with John Hartle, to join a Gilera bid led by Geoff Duke to wrest the world 500cc championship from the MV factory and Hailwood. But an early season crash at Brands Hatch, which also resulted in the death of Dave Downer, ruled him out and his place was taken by Phil Read. He returned to finish third in the Ulster GP and second in the East German GP.

He retired in 1967 to run his haulage business from his home in Kent.

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