Features

John Surtees tribute: En route to world titles

by

Sam Hewitt

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27th April 2017

The world in his hand – world champion at just 22 – and then came the immovable Count. To temporarily leap forward to the end of the 1955 season is to glimpse at just how hot a property John Surtees had rapidly become. With Norton’s end-of-season retirement from racing about to happen, a trio of…
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John Surtees: The beginning of competition

by

Sam Hewitt

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20th April 2017

John Surtees may have had his first taste of riding a motorcycle at the age of 12 on the Wallace-Blackburne speedway bike, but it wasn’t until the lofty age of 14 that he took his first step into motorcycle competition. John said: “I was 14 when I first entered a race. It was as a…
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Bernard Hargreaves: Innovator, Engineer, Publican and Motorcycle Racer

by

Sam Hewitt

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17th April 2017

FROM OUR ARCHIVES Bold as brass, sharp as a knife and very quick on a four-stroke – meet Bernard Hargreaves, the 5 ft 1 in Lancastrian who won the Clubman’s TT with a missing wheel nut. Words: Rachael Clegg Photographs: Bernard Hargreaves Collection Bernard Hargreaves’ life has been one of kitchen sink glamour. Innovator, engineer,…
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AUSTIN HOCKLEY: Fearless Fighter

by

Sam Hewitt

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7th April 2017

FROM OUR ARCHIVES Ask any of the competitors who raced regularly against Austin Hockley and the most common description they give him is ‘fearless’. Chris Carter charts his varied career. Words: Chris Carter Photographs: Austin Hockley Collection and Nick Nicholls Collection – Mortons Archive In a career lasting 12 years Austin has had a great…
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Transatlantic Trophy: USA superstar surprises

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd March 2017

The performances of Cal Rayborn and Yvon Duhamel, when they shared top individual Transatlantic Trophy Series honours with British riders in 1972 and 1973, had already shown fans in the UK that America could produce road racers who could run with the best. But no one on either side of the Atlantic could have predicted…
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Classic GP: Spa-Francorcamps 1974

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd March 2017

It was a race of extremes. Bikes seized, Barry Sheene was left coasting and Read romped home. Building to the race… The seventh round of the 1974 500cc World Championship took place at the picturesque and ultra-fast mountain circuit at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Phil Read was fastest in practice on the MV- Agusta but there…
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All over again

by

Sam Hewitt

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22nd February 2017

TT podiums, 500GP world championships and a host of other duties. The Dugdale Maxton Yamaha TZ385 that served under Charlie Williams was far more than a one-trick pony. Back in the days before anyone dreamed that Yamaha two-strokes would ever be venerated as prized collectables, the Dugdale Maxton Yamaha TZ385 that took Charlie Williams to…
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Peter Brown: BSA’s backroom boy

by

Sam Hewitt

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22nd February 2017

British Sidecar Champion in 1968 he may have been, but it was bad luck and worse timing that robbed Peter Brown of the greater success he undoubtedly deserved. Pete Crawford spoke to the man himself and discovered the ins and outs while discussing life at BSA, passenger-ing for a U-boat cook and winning the TT.…
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Wes Cooley: From hero to hell and back again

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st February 2017

He raced motorcycles that tied themselves up in knots. He found that extra something that all champions manage to find. He took on – and beat – the best. One big crash and 12 days later the racing was gone. The twice champ from the glory days of US Superbikes had to find his life…
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Going it alone: The Kim Newcombe Konig 500

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st February 2017

Like something from a Hollywood blockbuster, what a guy from New Zealand managed to make went out on track and stunned the racing world. This is the story of that motorcycle. Words by: Terry Stevenson Photos by: The Newcombe family, Rod Tingate, Patrick Stevenson, Terry Stevenson If you wrote this as a fictional story for…
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