Features

Where else other than the Isle of Man would you find a top current British Superbike contender, a leading female racer and an OAP all in top-six contention? In five years the Classic TT has established itself as the must-see event of its kind in the world, but it has retained a friendly atmosphere with…

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When a factory makes a handful of motorcycles – only a handful – to race at the highest level in one of the most competitive championships ever seen, you get this. What a bike. What a rare piece of racing history. What we have here is unique, one of the most rare racing motorcycles ever…

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Qualifying a written-off road bike on the front row of a Grand Prix grid ahead of Phil Read and Jarno Saarinen was just one high point in a career that embraced some of the best days of the continental circus. Pete Crawford got the full story while chatting to the effervescent British champion. We’ll let…

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So why would Bob turn down these works rides and instead decide to stay with Joe, working at the back of a funeral parlour in Bellshill, Glasgow? The answer: Bob was a man of his word and he had made plans with Joe for the 1956 season. Bob’s friendship with Potts and his belief in…

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Initially, the cammy Velocette was anonymous. The bike came about as the result of a discussion between two of the company’s top engineers. It was based on a standard, 350cc overhead camshaft KTT engine but among many others of that ilk the supercharger made this one a unique example. Designer Phil Irving and technical director…

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Moto Guzzi built a total of six complete 500cc V8 motorcycles, and while these differed slightly in design, they all had the same incredibly compact dry-sump water-cooled engine architecture, measuring 44 x 41mm for a capacity of 498.73cc (interestingly, Honda adopted the same dimensions for its 250 four the following decade). The two banks of…

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Agostini – 15 times world champion and racing on public roads? Mike Hailwood – able to win anything, in any conditions and against any opposition? Rossi – beating the toughest racers on the planet and on equal machinery must be the greatest of the modern era – but Vale has never won a TT? But…

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Sideways scrubbing. Looking for traction. Riding what is one of the nastiest machines ever made. There’s a reason why many in the racing world love and fear these things. Not least of all because of how they bite. And how often they can. Words: Terry Stevenson Photography: Kenny Roberts, Dan Mahoney archives, Terry Stevenson  …

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In the ultra-lightweight classes Eugenio Lazzarini was a force majeure, with 27 GP victories, two 50cc titles and another in the 125cc class. He was runner-up eight times and won four Italian crowns. As if that’s not quite enough, it is worth adding that this tiny track master was one of the last of the…

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There have been many popular riders in American dirt-track racing across the decades but none have exemplified timeless competitiveness in the Grand National championships across three full decades of continuous racing in the Expert class. None except for Harley-Davidson’s Jay ‘Springer’ Springsteen. If you want the epitome of the word ‘legend’, then here he is. Words:…

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