Tag Archives: Grand Prix motorcycle racing

50 Years of Grand Prix Legacy

Left to right: Masahiko Nakajima President of Yamaha Motor Racing, Phil Read and Marco Riva General Manager of Yamaha Motor Racing.

Saturday the 13^th of September represented a significant milestone for Yamaha Factory Racing. Precisely fifty years had passed since the Iwata based company attained its first world championship with the two-stroke 250cc RD56 when English motorcycle legend Phil Read won the Nations Grand Prix at Monza.

Read was on hand at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to present Masahiko Nakajima (President of Yamaha Motor Racing) and Marco Riva (General Manager of Yamaha Motor Racing) with his original 1964 F.I.M. World Championship certificate. The certificate will now take pride of place at Yamaha’s Hall Of Fame in Japan. A copy of the document has been made that will be signed by all those present to mark the occasion and in return will be presented to Read.

Phil Read went on to win a total of eight world titles across four classes, 125GP, 250GP, 500GP and TTF1. His career is littered with impressive achievements, including eight IOM TT race, wins, 121 Grand Prix podiums and four 250cc world titles which have only ever been equalled by Max Biaggi. Alongside Mike Hailwood and fellow Yamaha icon Valentino Rossi, Phil is one of only three riders to have won road-racing world championships in three or more classes.

Read receives the trophies and takes the 1964 250cc World Championship.

Read was quoted as saying, “This special evening to celebrate my bringing Yamaha’s first world title to them after 50 years is like coming home to the happy team, the reception has been fantastic, it’s overwhelming for me to see I get this recognition. I’m lucky to be here after fifty years of racing! It’s also thrilling to be here in Misano with Jorge on pole and Valentino so close on the front row too. It’s a little different now, from 1964; I came to Monza with two factory 250 Yamaha RD56s in the back of my car with one English mechanic and a Japanese mechanic who came over for the race in Monza. I think we had our carburettor settings written on a postcard! I still feel as much part of the Yamaha family today as I did then, and feel privileged to have started a run of world championship success that has continued to this day.”

Marco Riva, Yamaha Motor Racing, General Manager responded, “Our success with the RD56 wrote a page in motorcycle history. It was very competitive for many years and is still, in my opinion, the best race bike. Our aim has always been to have the rider at the centre of our racing project, Phil and other Yamaha icons such as Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are all still the most important factor. We are the only manufacturer that raced from the beginning of the world championship to now, we’ve never stopped, and this is something very special. We are honoured to have Phil here with us to celebrate this anniversary. He is an icon in motorcycle racing, fourth in the all-time world rankings with eight world titles. We hold riders such as Phil in a special place in our hearts over these years for allowing us to win these titles together.”

Yamaha followed Japanese rivals Honda and Suzuki into the World Championship Motorcycle Road Racing Grands Prix in 1961. Since the inception of the F.I.M. World Championship Grands Prix in 1949, Yamaha has won 38 manufacturers titles and 37 riders titles that cover 125cc, 250cc, 350cc, 500cc and MotoGP.

Superhuman

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In a recent interview with U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, the most successful design engineer in F1 history made quite a thought-provoking statement. Adrian Newey commented, “If you watch a sport – it doesn’t matter what sport – you want to come away with a feeling those guys are special. If you watch MotoGP, you think those guys are just superhuman. You just don’t get that with the current breed of F1 cars.”

Adrian Newey, the most successful design engineer in F1 history.

Newey who is unenamoured with the tightly controlled regulations currently in force in F1, believes they are so constrictive that, “the regulations design the cars.” Even as recently as two races ago in Germany the FIA outlawed FRICS, a front and rear interconnected hydraulic/mechanical suspension system which some teams had been using since 2010.

So disappointed is Newey with F1 he is stepping back from hands-on involvement at the end of the season with the Red Bull Racing F1 team. He has signed a new deal, where from next year he will be involved in Red Bull Technologies special projects, one of which is believed to be Britain’s America’s Cup challenger.

Newey, of course, has always had an uncanny ability to exploit the “grey” areas of the regulations on his way to designing F1 cars for the Red Bull team that have won four constructors and four drivers world championships between 2010-2113.

Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the RB10.

But as justified as the analogy between F1 and MotoGP is, the ongoing homogeny in technical terms for Grand Prix motorcycle racing is to a degree mimicking F1 and is of great concern for the “purity” of the sport. Let’s not forget that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone created Two Wheeled Promotions to form a joint venture with Dorna Sports in the early 1990’s to acquire the commercial rights to the motorcycle Grand Prix from the FIM. Ecclestone sold his companies interest to Dorna and its CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has often looked to F1 for inspiration, “to improve the spectacle.”

We now have a situation in MotoGP where, just as in F1, there are colour coded control tyres, a freeze on engine development for the “factory” machines during the season and a limit on the number engines available. Which for 2014 can only consume a meagre 20 litres of fuel per Grand Prix. In 2016 it will also be mandatory for all the MotoGP teams to use a Dorna supplied ECU and software.

One significant difference, however, is the use of traction control in MotoGP. Banned initially in F1 in 1994 and backed up with the introduction of a standard FIA ECU in 2008, some MotoGP riders and a proportion of the fans are against these electronics as well, as it’s seen as an artificial enhancement of a rider’s ability. But it is also a concession by Dorna to maintain motorcycle manufacturer involvement, who have to justify the enormous expenditure required to go Grand Prix motorcycle racing and who have traditionally seen MotoGP as part of their research and development programs that filters new technology down to their road bikes.

F1 like colour coding of MotoGP tyres.

The same is true of the new regulations in F1 with the return of a smaller capacity 1.6litre fuel-efficient turbocharged V6 engine that use a more complex hybrid energy recovery systems. Again, if the changes had not happened Renault and Mercedes may have withdrawn from F1, as they too have to justify the massive expenditure to go racing to their respective boards and shareholders by developing technology that is relevant to the road cars they build and sell. Nonetheless, the real racing person that Newey is, he describes F1 as becoming an “an engine formula.”

However, regardless of electronic rider aids and constrictive regulations, MotoGP racers by the very nature of motorcycle design are themselves “part of the machine”. Where they place their body weight under braking or going around a corner and accelerating out of a corner has a significant impact on lap times. Indeed MotoGP racers use everything available to them to go as fast as they can, carving angles of lean through bends that defy the laws of physics, and dragging not just their knees but also their elbows on the tarmac.

They also, thankfully, have no radio hookups with the pits and a team of technicians reading telemetry telling them what to do, only pit boards and their own judgment for tactical use of their fuel and tyre consumption over the course of a race.

Jorge Lorenzo becomes airborne trying to avoid backmarker James Ellison.

Also, these racers are not strapped tightly into a safety cell with only a low percentile chance of serious injury should they crash, as is the case in F1. And regardless of the current technology MotoGP riders do crash regularly, and often spectacularly, suffering abrasions and broken bones. Ask Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow to name a few. No matter what the technical regulators do to the sport of MotoGP, that innate, spectacular and highly dangerous involvement of the motorcycle racer themselves does indeed make them “superhuman.”

Speed King

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For enthusiasts of Land Speed Record breaking, the title “Speed Ace” or “Speed King” conjures images of such archetypal heroes as Segrave, Campbell and Cobb, frantically sawing at the wheel of some aero-engined behemoth as it thunders down the beaches of Daytona or along the dazzling white salt flats of Bonneville. English gentlemen who would risk life or limb for King and Country and the prestige of Britain.

But record-breaking often creates less likely heroes who would arguably qualify for the same distinguished mantle. Don Vesco was one such person, who not only set an outright World Land Speed Record for motorcycles of 318.598mph (512.73kph), but also an outright World Land Speed Record for a wheel-driven vehicle of 458.440mph (737.787kph).

Don Vesco.Record-breaking was only one part of a lifetime chasing speed.

Record-breaking for Vesco though was only one part of a lifetime chasing speed.

Don was born in Loma Linda Southern California on April the 8^th 1939, in an environment that not surprisingly nurtured a “need for speed”. His father, John Vesco, ran hot-rods and streamliners out of his body shop on Southern California’s numerous dry lakebeds – a perfect setting for Don and his two younger brothers Rick and Chuck to gain an education in all things fast.

Vesco was mechanically gifted as a child, and while still in his teens, modified a rigid framed Triumph 500cc T100R twin to enter his first official race, a local drag race meet at San Diego’s Paradise Mesa drag strip. What followed was that unique blend of American motorcycle racing, on bitumen, dirt track and TT steeplechase. One of Don’s old Hoover High School buddies and main rival on the track in those days was a future legend, Cal Rayborn.

It was in the discipline of road racing that Vesco excelled and it soon became apparent that the Triumph was no match for the Manx Norton’s many of his rivals were racing. Thanks to a loan from his girlfriend Norma, who would become the first of his three wives, Don was able to purchase a Manx. The combination proved almost unbeatable in local road races at tracks like Willow Springs and Riverside in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s – at a time when Japanese manufacturer Honda was trying to take a foothold in the lucrative American motorcycle market.

Don on the salt at Bonneville with his Manx Norton.

Honda hired Vesco to race its highly successful RC161 four-cylinder four-stroke 250cc Grand Prix racer in American events to help promote the brand. Don duly notched up two wins on the RC161 first time up at the Goleta Airport track in Santa Barbara but crashed the bike several months later at the same venue. When a promised ride in the 1962 US Grand Prix at Daytona (an FIM sanctioned international event) was given to Japanese rider Kunimitsu Takahashi, it appeared that Don was out of favour.

In a twist of fate another Japanese manufacturer, Yamaha was also trying to promote their motorcycles in America. Yamaha contacted Vesco to race its RD56 250cc two-stroke Grand Prix racer the following year in the open class at the same event. The race, however, wasn’t to be all smooth sailing. Vesco, suffered a fall in the Daytona infield, but remounted and went on to lap the entire field to win the 1963 US Grand Prix, giving the Japanese manufacturer their first major victory in America. Vesco was to ride again for Yamaha at Daytona in 1964, and this time the Grand Prix was a fully sanctioned round of the FIM 250cc World Championship. Unfortunately, a nasty fall in practice resulted in a broken collarbone for Vesco, and the GP racer was handed to up and coming English rider, and future World Champion, Phil Read. The bad luck continued for Yamaha and the bike seized during the race.

Don aboard the Open Class winning Yamaha RD56 at Daytona 1963 with Japanese rider Fumio Ito.

Yamaha was now offering Don a dealership, which initially he declined, but reconsidered when his employer complained he had too much time off through racing accidents. He opened shop in El Cajon California in 1966.

By the early 70’s Vesco had two of the world’s best racers riding out of his dealership, former world 250cc Grand Prix champion, Australian Kel Carruthers (who had come to live and race in the U.S. at Don’s invitation), and his old racing buddy and rival Cal Rayborn. By the late 70’s other such greats as Gene Romero, Dave Aldana, Ron Pierce and Yvon du Hamel had all ridden under the Team Vesco Yamaha banner.

Don had by now shelved his own racing ambitions to concentrate on the dealership with the satisfaction of having been a factory rider for a number of manufacturers including Honda, Yamaha, Bridgestone and BSA.

Don on the cover of the Orange County Raceway program riding a 250cc Bridgestone GP racer.

It was during this period that Vesco began his highly successful motorcycle land speed record runs at Bonneville Salt Flats. Don was no stranger to the salt having first run a motorcycle at Bonneville at the age of 16, and in 1963 joined the exclusive 200mph (321.87kph) club, driving his fathers Offenhauser powered four-wheeled streamliner #444 to 221mph (355.67kph).

However, it was the outright Motorcycle Land Speed records that Vesco became synonymous with. The first was in September 1970 using a twin-engine streamliner fitted with Yamaha R3 air-cooled 350cc two-stroke engines to set a new world record of 251.924mph (405.43kph), becoming the first man to break the 250mph barrier. It was short lived though, as less than a month later Harley-Davidson broke his record with Cal Rayborn at the controls. Vesco knew of his friend’s record attempt and made sure he received his contingency money from Yamaha and his other sponsors quick smart!

Vesco and Big Red the first motorcycle to achieve over 250mph.

Five years later Don returned to the salt and was the first to crack the 300mph barrier and set a new record in the Silver Bird Yamaha, (a stretched version of his old streamliner Big Red, fitted initially with two TZ700cc two-stroke Yamaha racing engines), leaving the mark at 302.928mph (487.53kph).

This was not enough for Vesco, and in August 1978 he established a new outright world record of 318.598mph (512.73kph) with Lightning Bolt using two modified 1015cc turbocharged Kawasaki KZ900 engines. Remarkably this outright world record stood for 12 years.

But it was only two months later that success turned to failure when Don took Lightning Bolt to El Mirage dry lake and crashed. Vesco escaped without injury, but much of the streamliner’s bodywork was damaged. By 1980 Don had finished work on a new streamliner using two turbocharged 1300c six cylinder Kawasaki engines, although success eluded his latest creation.

Don with the Silver Bird Yamaha streamliner after setting an new world record of 302.98mph.

Don with the Silver Bird Yamaha streamliner after setting a new world record of 302.98mph.

Vesco now started to eye the record for wheel-driven automobiles and in 1982 returned to Bonneville with a unique machine called Sky Tracker. Built along the lines of Don’s motorcycle streamliners, Sky Tracker used the driver’s compartment from Lightning Bolt and sported five wheels, two next to each other at the rear, one on each side and enclosed in the middle of the bodywork, and one at the front.

Rain, in both 1982 and 1983, thwarted attempts with Sky Tracker at Bonneville, although a speed of 235mph (378kph) was achieved in 1984 using a turbocharged Drake-Offenhauser engine before the meet was rained out again. 1985 saw Vesco qualify Sky Tracker for the World Finals record runs with a pass of 318mph, (512kph) his unusual creation starting to show its potential. Like anybody involved in the pursuit of speed, Vesco was well aware of the dangers, but a blown rear tyre at 350mph (563kph) underlined that point in no small way. Sky Tracker crashed end over end five times utterly destroying the car. Don came away with damaged vertebrae, concussion and a broken bone in his hand and right foot.

Don with the Kawasaki Lightning Bolt. His record stood for 12 years.

Don Vesco with the Kawasaki Lightning Bolt. His record stood for 12 years.

Finding enough money to continue chasing the record was not unfamiliar territory for Don and his brother Rick who was also working on a parallel project. It made sense to join forces to complete a new twin-engine car, although it was not until 1991 with a pair of turbocharged 160 cubic inch Drake-Offenhauser power units that it started to show promise with a run of 372mph (598kph). Expensive engine failures were now becoming a problem, and it was apparent to the brothers that piston engine power was reaching its upper limits. A different power source was needed if they were to break Al Teague’s wheel-driven record of 409.97mph (659.78kph).

A gas turbine was seen as the best solution, and a compact helicopter unit could be found comparatively cheaply in the form of an Avco Lycoming T55-L-11A SA. The streamliner now became known as the Turbinator with its engine producing 3,750hp at 16,000rpm, driving all four wheels through a gearbox bolted to the front with a reduction ratio on the shaft of 2:1.

Turbinator.

The first development runs took place in 1996 at Bonneville, and over the next four years, Don and Team Vesco set three national records at the World Finals in excess of 400mph (643.74kph), culminating a one-way run of 427mph (687.19kph) in 2000. The world record slipped through their grasp that day when a gearbox failure with Turbinator prevented the team turning the car around for the return run within the one hour stipulated by FIA regulations.

Team Vesco returned to Bonneville once again in 2001 for the World Finals, with 500mph squarely in their sights. The team were buoyed by the fact that in a one-way “shakedown” run Turbinator reached 470.28mph (756.84kph) and was still accelerating out of the measured mile. The record runs however produced a real problem. Don was unable to hold open the throttle as the engine temperature at the burners kept creeping up dramatically and could have caused the engine to self-destruct. Vesco had to modulate the throttle 16 times to contain the temperature but still hit over 458.mph (737.08kph) on the first run. The problem was the reduction gearbox, bolted to the shaft on the front of the engine, prevented enough cooling air to flow into the turbine.

The return run was going to be challenging, and again Vesco was required to modulate the throttle 18 times to contain engine temperature. Worse was yet to come as the rear left tyre blew inside the measured mile. It took all of Don’s skill and experience to keep the Turbinator on track and slow it down, stopping a mere 15 feet inside the black line.

Team Vesco had done the job; the return run had equalled the first to give a two-way average of 458.44mph (737.79kph).

Don and the team were happy to have beaten Al Teague’s 1991 wheel driven record of 409.986mph (659.81kph) in Spirit of ‘76. But more delighted to have broken the record for a gas turbine automobile of 403.10mph (648.73kph) set 37 years earlier in 1964 by Donald Campbell at Lake Eyre in South Australia driving CN7 Bluebird.

Don and Team Vesco break the wheel-driven Land Speed Record 2001.

In 1999 the American Motorcyclist Association had honoured Vesco’s achievements and inducted him into their Hall of Fame. Don turned 60 that year. If there is one thing, that old motorcycle racers know from experience, crashing and riding injured come with the territory. Vesco had suffered his share, but in 1995 while spectating at a sprint car meeting at the Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix Arizona, Don was struck in the left eye and permanently blinded by a piece of debris thrown up by the rear tyre of a sprint car. Driving Turbinator with one eye was just another obstacle for Don to overcome, which makes those 400mph (643.74kph) plus runs all that more remarkable. It didn’t deter Vesco from competing at Daytona in the BMW legends series, riding an R1100RS as fast as ever, and he continued to compete in AHRMA events on one of Team Obsolete’s Manx Nortons.

Unfortunately, there was one final obstacle Don was unable to overcome before he could achieve his dream of 500mph (804.67kph). He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and succumbed to the illness on the 16th of December 2002 aged 63. Vesco was inducted posthumously into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2004. Today, after 13 years, Don’s record still stands, but Team Vesco will continue to work towards that dream of 500mph (804.67kph) and will be back at Bonneville with an upgraded and improved Turbinator 11.

Don Vesco, factory motorcycle racer, team owner, engine tuner, designer, Land Speed Record Breaker. Speed King.

Words Geoff Dawes (C) 2013. Images http://www.bluebird-electric.com, http://www.bikernet.com, http://www.gregwapling.com, http://www.forumboxerworks.com, http://www.yamahapart.com, http://www.eliteday.com, http://www.global.yamaha-motor.com and http://www.croinfo.net.

Casey Stoner Pushing The Limits

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For a large number of MotoGP followers, and in particular fans of Casey Stoner, his new autobiography (with Matthew Roberts), “Casey Stoner Pushing The Limits” subtitled ‘The controversial and explosive autobiography of a two-time World Moto GP Champion” holds very few surprises. Many of the events in Stoner’s career and early life have already been well documented in the media.

But the book draws all the elements of Casey’s life together in a single volume that gives him the freedom to set the record straight after years muted media statements often due to the politics and pressure of the MotoGP paddock. Stoner does not like being in the public spotlight and has found it difficult to fit the “Superstar” persona that the commercialised sports owners, Dorna, and the ensuing and often frenzied media pack try to demand.

Casey’s early life and his love of motorcycles and racing is intriguing, and it’s clear that his upbringing played such an important part in shaping his career

However, the greatest revelation, I personally found, was his reasons for leaving Australia to compete overseas. Although forced upon him, it was this decision that set Casey and his parents on the long and hard road to success.

“Casey Stoner Pushing The Limits” is well worth reading if you have little or no knowledge of this great Champions career. For those who follow the sport, or are a Stoner fan, it will clear the muddied waters of MotoGP politics, revealing how incredibly special the talent of Casey Stoner is.

Highly recommended. Available from the Book Depository in hardback or paperback.

The Changing Of An Era For MotoGP ?

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Honda’s new “Open Class” production racer the RCV1000R.

The final MotoGP of the 2013 season at Valencia brought with it a remarkable conclusion to the championship, with Marc Marquez clinching the title to become the youngest ever MotoGP World Champion and the first “rookie” to do so in 35years.

There were, however, a number of other events surrounding the race that also announced the changing of an era.

Honda unveiled its RCV1000R “Open Class” racer (formerly CRT), and it is the first production racer to be sold to private teams by Honda since the NSR 500V two-stroke V-twin in 2001. That in itself is a boost for the category, but when HRC revealed that Casey Stoner tested both bikes at Motegi on the same day, on the same tyres, and the difference between the production racer and full factory RC213V was only 0.3s, it shone a spotlight onto what may be the future of MotoGP. More significant though, was the time set on the softer compound rear tyre only available to the ‘open’ class riders, dropping the gap down to just 0.17s!

Hiroshi Aoyama on the RCV1000R at the Valencia tests.

The production racer is a “toned down” version of the full factory RC213V. The main differences being steel sprung rather than pneumatically operated valves, and a conventional rather than seamless shift gearbox. The 1000cc 90 degree V4 engine will still produce ‘over 175KW’ (235hp) at 16,000rpm with Öhlins suspension and Nissin brakes fitted as standard.

The price tag to buy the Honda is believed to be around 1.2million euros. However, an upgrade package for 2015 means that the cost, when spread over two seasons, is likely to be approximately 800,000 euros a year, which is more in keeping with Dorna’s policy on pricing for the newly named category.

Four machines so far have been purchased; two earmarked for the Aspar Team to be ridden by 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama. MotoGP rookie Scott Redding at the Gresini Team and Karel Abraham of the Cardion AB Team will ride the other two machines.

Nicly Hayden on the RCV1000R production racer in testing at Velencia.

Nicky Hayden on the RCV1000R production racer testing at Valencia.

Yamaha will also supply “Open Class” machinery to the NGM Forward Racing Team for both Colin Edwards and Aleix Espargaro. This is the first time since the early 1990’s that Yamaha has offered competitive machinery for sale to private teams in MotoGP. At that time Yamaha supplied complete engines and technical information to specialist chassis manufacturers Harris and ROC. For the new “Open Class” Yamaha is supplying the MI engine, frame and swingarm.

Not to be left out, Ducati will also supply a complete “Open Class “ machine to the Pramac Ducati Team.

Aleix Espargro on the Yamaha production racer at the Valencia test.

All of these production racers will have the benefit of 12 engines per season as opposed to 5 for the full factory prototypes and four litres more fuel, 24 compared to 20 for 2014, and there is also a greater choice of tyres for the riders as well. All of these machines will use the officially supplied MotoGP ECU and software.

The other major event at Valencia was the “sacking” by Valentino Rossi of long-serving Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess. The announcement was made at a press conference held on the Thursday before the Valencia MotoGP at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Valentino Rossi’ Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, talks about their parting of ways.

“It was my decision because we had already spoken with the team about next year,” explained Rossi. “Jeremy said that he wanted to stay. [But] Jeremy had some question marks for the future [beyond 2014], and he didn’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, just that he wanted to wait for next year [to decide].

“I also want to wait until next year, and I will decide after the first races if I want to continue. So it was more my decision and yesterday we spoke together to explain that I needed to make a change and try something different. It’s a new boost to get more motivation, so we decided to do this.

“The level now has raised a lot with the top three riders, and they are able to ride these bikes very fast and the lap time has improved a lot. It’s a great challenge for me and for us, and we know that it is difficult, but I don’t have any regrets or problems with how the team has worked and especially with Jeremy.

I know that this is a key moment because I have in mind that I want to try one time in another way and that this is the moment for that.”

After Rossi had given his reasons for the parting of ways the 60-year-old Burgess commented, “It blindsided me, and I didn’t expect it whatsoever,” he said. “I knew yesterday afternoon when Valentino invited me into his trailer that we weren’t going in there for the Christmas bonus!”

“I haven’t made any plans for the future at this stage. My intention originally was to continue next year and depending on results and desire I would make a call. We’ve been chasing rainbows for four years and haven’t nailed anything decent, and these are long periods in racing, and it becomes more difficult [to win].

“I’ve read many sports biographies, and quite often the top sportsman in the latter part of his career will have a change of caddy or a change of coach, and this is what we’re working on. We worked on fixing the problem for four years, and this is part of that fix, and this is the next step to try and get Valentino back on top.

“Obviously I’m disappointed, but I understand that some change was necessary and only history will determine the outcome of this adjustment. It’s an adjustment to improve the package for Valentino and if this does it then it’s been a success.”

Burgess added: “I prefer how this happened and think that it was a far better way to do it rather than showing up on Sunday night and just saying ‘Ciao it’s all over’.”

During their 14 seasons together Rossi and Burgess have won a record 80 Grand Prix races, using 500cc Honda, 990cc Honda, 990cc Yamaha, 800cc Yamaha and 1000cc Yamaha machinery. As a Crew Chief Burgess has won 13 MotoGP World Championships, 1 with Wayne Gardner, 5 with Mick Doohan, and 7 with Valentino Rossi since starting his career as a mechanic in the 500cc Grand Prix class with Heron Suzuki in 1980.

Indeed the end of an era.

Archives: The Unknown Grand Prix Hero

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Newcombe in full flight at the Dutch T.T. at Assen.

Before the start of the 1973 500cc Grand Prix season, the all-conquering MV Agusta team held a crushing stranglehold on the premier class. The monopoly had lasted for 17 years, winning the championship 16 times, the last seven in the hands of the great Giacomo Agostini. Even the might of the Honda factory with the talents of Mike Hailwood had failed to take the title away.

In 1973 it was Yamaha who decided to take up the challenge and try to become the first Japanese factory to win the blue riband class. Yamaha’s line up was a formidable one utilising the talents of their 250cc world champion, rising Finnish star Jarno Saarinen, aboard the factory’s latest weapon; an across the frame 500cc four-cylinder two-stroke. His team-mate was respected Japanese test rider, Hideo Kanaya.

The Italians though, proved they were not about to rest on their laurels by hurriedly building a new four-stroke 500 based on their compact 350 four. Three times 250cc World Champion, Englishman Phil Read, was drafted into the team to ride it alongside Ago on his tried and proven triple.

But incredibly it became an unknown New Zealander, riding a home built special with an engine from a marine outboard motor, that was to be MV Agusta’s greatest threat.

Kim Newcombe was born in Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island but was brought up in Auckland where he served an apprenticeship as a motorcycle mechanic.

Like many great riders of the modern Grand Prix era, Kim’s early racing career was on dirt tracks. His passion, in particular, was motorcycle scrambling (Motocross)), even riding his Greeves scrambler to meetings when a lift wasn’t available.

Phil Read leads Newcombe at the 1973 Czehoslavakian G.P.

Phil Read leads Newcombe at the 1973 Czechoslovakian Grand Prix.

In May 1962 he was rewarded with a second place in the New Zealand Scramble Championship, which he followed up later that year with another second place in the North Island 250cc Championship. After such encouraging results, Kim and his wife Janeen decided to sell the Greeves and move to Australia in 1963 for what would become a five-year stay.

Newcombe initially spent time in Brisbane where he raced in both scrambles and Speedway. Kim and Janeen then moved to Melbourne, and after putting in some good rides on a home-built special (an outdated Greeves with a BSA gearbox), he received sponsorship from Bob Beanam of Modak Motorcycles in the form of a 400cc Maico. Beanam also sponsored another rider by the name of Rod Tingate, and it was this pair that debuted the first Maico moto-cross bikes in Australia.

However, Newcombe first came across the remarkable German Konig outboard motor while he was working for Bob Jackson Marine in Melbourne. The Konig proved to be almost unbeatable in its class of hydroplane racing, and in 1965 Kim won two Victorian Outboard Championships using the impressive two-stroke engine. In effect, it was these two West German products that would have such a profound influence on Newcombe’s future.

Kim and the Konig leads Read on the MV Agusta at the Swedish Grand Prix in 1973.

Kim and the Konig lead Read on the MV Agusta at the Swedish Grand Prix in 1973.

Having succumbed to the lure of racing Motocross in Europe, Kim arranged a job as a mechanic with Maico’s experimental department in Germany. But the position was not available until March 1969, and as Newcombe and his wife were to arrive in Europe some eight months earlier something else had to be found. A phone call to Dieter Konig in Berlin secured Kim a job in the Konig factories experimental department, and it was here that the idea of putting the 500cc flat-four two-stroke engine into a motorcycle racing chassis jelled.

Kim found that Dieter Konig was convinced his two-stroke engines could be as successful in Grand Prix motorcycle racing as they were in hydroplane racing and Newcombe was given the resources and encouraged to develop a Grand Prix racer. But it was a German rider named Wolf Braun who had initially shown an interest in racing a Konig, fitting the outboard motor, mated to a Norton gearbox and clutch, in a modified BSA chassis and then giving the hybrid machine it’s first race. But minor injuries and a lack of funds prevented Braun from continuing development of the Konig and the complete bike was left at the factory.

Although Kim was keen to prove his ideas about making the Konig into a competitive Grand Prix racer he had not really considered racing it himself. But towards the end of 1969, Kim decided to race the Konig. In September, after obtaining a West German national racing licence, Newcombe entered his first road race at the Avus autobahn circuit near Berlin and won! The following season saw an entirely new chassis – and Aussie Grand Prix rider John Dodds on the bike.

Again it was relatively short-lived; as a privateer, Dodds could not afford to help develop and race an entirely new machine. Newcombe would again have to ride the Konig himself.

Kim on the Kn ig at the Dutch T.T. at Assen 1973.

Kim on the Konig at the Dutch T.T. at Assen 1973.

Kim had qualified for an international racing licence for the 1972 season after winning five junior races the previous year. His first international race was at Mettet in Belgium, but it was his performance in the selected Grands Prix which followed that showed Kim and the Konig’s real potential, their best results coming from two third places at the East and West German Grand Prix. The mongrel motorcycle was proving very competitive, with enough power to pass Pagani’s MV on the straights.

Before the ’73 Grand Prix season had started Kim suffered several broken vertebrae in his neck due to a race crash at Hengelo in Holland. This called for a trip to London to see a Harley Street specialist and Newcombe used the opportunity to attend the annual motorcycle show. The main purpose of this was to visit Colin Seeley with reference to making a batch of frames for Konig which Kim had designed himself. By chance, he ran into his old friend and former teammate from Australia, Rod Tingate, who was working for Seeley. Tingate was on the verge of leaving Seeley to have a shot at racing in the European Grands Prix. Rod became an integral part of Newcombe’s team, racing his Yamaha TR3 when he could get a start, but mainly helping to maintain and develop the Konig.

The first race of the season was the French GP at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. The new Yamaha 500 in the hands of Jarno Saarinen dominated the event, easily beating home Phil Read on his MV, with Kanaya’s Yamaha coming in third. Considering Newcombe was developing a new machine, learning a new circuit and progressing as a rider, fifth place in the race was creditable performance. Agostini however, had fallen while trying to stay with Saarinen.

Yamaha took a one-two win in the freezing rain at the next round, the Austrian GP in Salzburg. Again Saarinen dominated, taking the win, while both Ago and Read failed to finish, leaving Kim to pick up a fine third place some 30 seconds in arrears.

On the Podium with Agostini (2) Read (1) and Kim (3) at Swedish G.P. at Anderstorp.

In the heat at the West German GP at Hockenheim, Saarinen broke the lap record, but unfortunately also his chain. Agostini’s MV again failed leaving Read to take the win. It was a challenging race for Kim who in front of his “home crowd” had mechanical problems and did not finish.

The next race was at Monza in Italy. It was a Grand Prix meeting that became one of the darkest days in motorcycle sport. During the 350 race, Walter Villa’s Benelli had broken an oil line, dumping engine oil onto the exhaust system and track. The Benelli was not black flagged by the organisers, but Villa came into the pits on the second to last lap on his own initiative, only to be sent out again by his mechanics so he could claim fifth spot in the race.

The 250 race was started without an oil warning, and there were no oil flags being shown around the track by the organiser’s to indicate the danger. As the leading bunch hurtled at 210kph into the first corner, the Curva Grande, Renzo Pasolini’s bike went down taking Saarinen with him and sending Kanaya into the hay bales.

The group that was closely following smashed into the debris bringing down another twelve riders. A fire broke out among the hay bales and wrecked bikes causing smoke to obscure the accident. There was also no sign of any flag marshals to warn the riders who were on their second lap. John Dodds somehow managed to avoid the carnage and began running down the track waving his arms to warn the other riders. Dieter Braun was leading the race, and it was only the sight of Dodds that saved him from entering the smoke at around 233kph. Sadly both Pasolini and Saarinen were killed. The 500 race was cancelled, and as a mark of respect, Yamaha withdrew for the rest of the season.

With the TT at the Isle of Man being boycotted by all of the top GP riders for safety reasons, the next race was the Yugoslavian Grand Prix on the dangerous street circuit at the Adriatic seaside resort of Opatija. The question of track safety again came into play when MV Agusta decided to boycott this race meeting as well. Newcombe made the most of the situation by winning the event in fine style, coming home over a minute ahead of second place man Steve Ellis and taking the lead in the Championship by four points.

Kim at work in 1973.

The Grand Prix circus then moved on for the Dutch TT at Circuit van Drenthe Assen. Kim was now beginning to experience the pressure of leading the championship in his first full season of GP racing. This showed in practice, causing an uncharacteristic crash on the technically tricky Dutch circuit, and a long night for Kim and Rod to repair the Konig. But on race day, in front of the massive crowd, Kim managed to recover from a poor start and claw his way back through the field to come home in a fighting second place. Agostini, after setting the fastest lap of the race, was out once more with a faulty gear selector. Read again showed his class by taking first place and closing the gap to Newcombe to only one point.

Next was Belgium and the Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, another fast road circuit. Agostini finally broke his duck by winning the race and setting an average lap speed of 206.8kmh, ahead of team-mate Read. Newcombe was holding a safe third place when his water pump drive broke allowing expatriate Aussie Jack Findlay, on the improving TR500 Suzuki, past on the final lap.

Newcombe was now three points in arrears as they travelled once more behind the Iron Curtain to the Brno circuit for the Czechoslovakian GP. Phil Read made a good start and led for half race distance with Ago in tow. Kim was again in third, but his engine was only firing on three cylinders. With just a few laps to go Bruno Kneubler caught up with him, and as they tussled out of the final corner the Konig cut in on all four cylinders spitting Newcombe off! Agostini, however, had managed to get the better of Read and notched up his second successive win.

Newcombe leads Read at the Swedish Grand Prix.

Kim could see his chance at the Championship title slipping away as the Konig team moved on to Scandinavia and the Swedish GP at Anderstorp. If there had been any doubt about Newcombe’s riding ability this race proved his worth. Newcombe took the lead for the first ten laps by pushing the Konig to its limit, using extreme angles of lean through the corners to stay ahead, until he grounded the gear lever which knocked the Konig into neutral and almost sent him spearing off the track. Read was through in a flash to eventually beat Ago by half a second, with Kim in third place.

The Finnish Grand Prix at Imatra was almost disastrous for Newcombe. The bumpy tree-lined circuit was made worse by dirt and damp leaves on the track, causing several excursions up the escape roads with the Konig scrambling for traction in the turns and under brakes. At one point Kim fell as low as eighth but managed to work his way up to fourth at the flag. Agostini had won again, with Read’s second place making him unbeatable in the championship.

There was a break before the final Grand Prix of the season in Spain, the next major meeting being the August 12th “British Grand Prix” international meeting at Silverstone. Kim had ridden the Konig in England for the first time at Brands Hatch the week before, but the poor weather had put a dampener on the meeting, and Kim had no intentions of extending himself while in England.

Bad luck followed Newcombe to Silverstone as he was unable to race the preferred 500cc Konig when in practice it broke a big-end bearing cage. This left the Super Konig, a 680cc version of the bike for competing against the Formula 750 machines in the 1000cc class. The 680 was more challenging to ride being brutally powerful.

Kim on the 680cc Konig chases John Williams on the Norton F750 racer at Silverstone.

Kim on the 680cc Konig chases Peter Williams on the Norton F750 racer at Silverstone.

All the big names were at Silverstone for the 1000cc event. Paul Smart (Kawasaki 750), Barry Sheene (Suzuki 750), Phil Read (MV), Agostini (MV), Gary Nixon (Kawasaki 750), Yvon Du Hamel (Kawasaki 750), Dave Croxford (Norton 750), and Peter Williams (Norton 750) amongst others. But for six laps Newcombe on a hybrid home-built racer proved embarrassingly fast for the factory racers. Smart gradually pegged back the Konig, and as they swept into Stowe corner Kim’s brakes appeared to fade, causing him to run wide and eventually crash. Newcombe and the Konig slid for a distance before smashing into an unprotected brick wall.

Although his injuries appeared superficial, Kim had suffered severe head trauma similar to that of Suzuki’s Kevin Magee’s at Laguna Seca. Unfortunately, the modern medical techniques that saved Kevin’s life were unavailable to Newcombe. Three days later Kim succumbed to his injuries in a Northampton Hospital.

As usual, Newcombe had walked the circuit before practice began, and was involved in a four-hour meeting with race organisers over concerns about safety. It’s ironic that the next day an identical accident occurred at the same corner, yet the rider was able to walk away, thanks to hay bales belatedly being placed there.

Posthumously second in the 1973 500cc World Championship, Kim Newcombe’s achievement should not be overlooked. Taking on the might of the unbeatable MV Agusta team with what amounted to a home-built special on a shoestring budget, and in his first full season of Grand Prix racing, deserves much more than that.

Konig Technical File

The success of the Konig flat-four two-stroke boxer engine design is quite unique in the history of the 500cc Grand Prix class.

Similar layouts were tried later in the mid-seventies. However, Helmet Fath’s more advanced two-stroke design was never as successful in the Grands Prix, and MV Augusta’s boxer four-stroke was never raced.

Kim and the Konig in the paddock at the Swedish Grand Prix. Note the Norton gearbox casing and the belt drive to the water pump and rotary disc valve.

The water-cooled unit sat transversely across the frame with two cylinders pointing forward and the other two rearward. The two right-hand cylinders fired together while the left-hand pair repeated the process 180 degrees later. Basically like two flat-twins sharing a common crankcase and a single crankshaft. The crankcase itself was split into two separate pumping chambers for each pair of opposed cylinders – a necessity for two-stroke breathing.

This enabled the use of a single large rotary disc valve on top of the crankcase for inlet timing, with a single inlet port for each pair of opposed cylinders. The disc valve was driven by a toothed belt from the timing end of the crankshaft, and appeared somewhat fragile, as it had to run through rollers and make a ninety-degree turn.

Even the expansion chambers were shared – initially an agricultural looking single “canister” chamber with the front and rear pairs of cylinders siamesed into it. This was later replaced with two conventional looking expansion chambers – one for each pair of front and rear cylinders.

Carburation varied from two East German BVF carburettors to a twin-choke 38mm downdraught Solex, and finally a pair of American 42mm Tillotsons. The engine ran on petroil at an old-fashioned 16:1, although this was later changed to 20:1 using a vegetable oil.

All the internal components were quality West German products, with the crankshaft being a pressed up five-piece affair made by Hoeckle. It rested on three main bearings – utilising a double ball on the timing end and two separate ball races on the primary side, with split-type caged rollers for the middle main bearing. Caged roller bearings were also used for the connecting rod’s big-end, while the little-end used crowded needle rollers and shims on the piston pin to centralise the conrod. The pistons themselves were forged high silicone Mahle items with a single chromed ring. Bore and stroke were a classic ‘stroker 54x54mm although this was said to have changed during development to 50x56mm.

The ignition system was provided by a conventional battery, twin coil and dual points set-up, run off the right-hand end of the crank.

The main weaknesses with adapting a design intended initially for power boating was the lack of an in-unit clutch/transmission and getting enough water through a cooling system that was built for a limitless supply of cold sea water.

The clutch/gearbox problem was overcome by running a toothed Westinghouse chain off the left-hand side of the crankshaft (hence the reasoning to mount the engine across the frame), to a clutch and a Norton gearbox casing fitted with a Schaftleitner six-speed gear cluster.

The cooling problem was never solved entirely, and the engine did not like to get any hotter than 60 degrees. A cast-finned sump was fitted underneath the engine to act as a reservoir for five litres of coolant that passed through a large radiator. Newcombe experimented with slots in the fairing, which yielded some success, but just in case the Konig was never warmed up before a race so it could be taken to the starting line cold.

Kim hard at work on the Konig at Spa in Belguim.

In its final 1973 form, the Konig had a chassis designed by Kim that used Ceriani front forks and drum brakes with Girling rear shocks. By this time the engine was pumping out 85bhp at 9,800rpm (at the crankshaft) with the 680cc version giving 90bhp to 9,500rpm. With a weight of only 139kg, the 500 was good for around 265kph!

Konig made eight bikes in kit form (less wheels and front forks), and for about the same price as a TZ350 Yamaha, a privateer could buy a potentially competitive 500cc or 680cc racer.

With Kim’s demise though, interest in the solo racer diminished. The factory did, however, help Rolf Steinhausen and passenger Josef Huber in the sidecar championship, for which they were rewarded with a Konig engine winning both the 1975 and 1976 Sidecar World Championship.

Going Seamless

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When Casey Stoner won the final 800cc MotoGP World Championship for Honda in 2011, many a finger was pointed at the seamless gearbox Honda had developed as being a significant factor in the RC212V’s reinvigorated performance. Shuhei Nakamoto, vice-president of Honda Racing Corporation, believed it was more a matter of refinement in many areas of RC212V that had brought about the championship winning performance.

HRC Vice-President Shuhei Nakamoto.

But the seamless gearbox did raise the ire of the MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna, who with the FIM, was on a crusade to cut costs and to close the performance inequity between the CRT teams and the factory prototypes.

Yamaha, however, is the last of the factory teams to adopt the technology as Ducati had already introduced their version of the seamless gearbox in late 2011. To the delight of its Grand Prix World Champions Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, the M1 went seamless at Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix. It was a concerted effort by Yamaha to try and bridge the technology gap to Honda and to help Jorge Lorenzo claw back lost ground in the MotoGP World Championship battle.

So what are the benefits of this new technology? According to Valentino Rossi, “The bike is more stable in acceleration so it’s less demanding, so you can be more consistent and more precise, with less effort,” he added. “The only difference in setup is the electronics: you get less wheelie, so you need less wheelie control [which means more horsepower and more acceleration].”

Rossi and Lorenzo were glad to have the seamless gearbox at Misano

Rossi and Lorenzo were delighted to have the seamless gearbox at Misano.

The fact that gears can be shifted without the split second loss of torque through the transmission that occurs with a racing speed shifter, which momentarily cuts the ignition as another gear is engaged, is the primary benefit. With a conventional gearbox when the torque is reintroduced, it can load up the rear tyre and cause wheelspin or wheelies. which may also unsettle the front end of the bike. Also with a seamless gearbox down, changes are smoother helping engine braking with a more controlled front end under brakes. Greater stability while changing gears mid-corner is another big benefit of the system.

How does it work? To put it in simple terms two gears are engaged simultaneously. The torque is transmitted through the lower ratio, but as engine torque rises, the higher gear ratio is gradually engaged. When the higher gear is selected, the torque is transferred seamlessly to it. The reverse is true of down changes. There are many subtle benefits of the gearbox. Shorter gear change time, Improved tyre wear, more precise handling and less fatigue on the rider.

Yamaha managed to close the technology gap at Misano.

The cost of developing the seamless gearbox is a mute point with Dorna who thought that they had all the bases covered when they outlawed automatic, CVT and twin-clutch transmissions, which is also the case in F1. There is a certain amount of irony here concerning F1 which I will refer to shortly.

Lin Jarvis Managing Director of Yamaha Factory Racing towed the Dorna line initially saying that Yamaha would not have invested in the technology if Honda had not. This in some ways is a strange approach as most manufacturers justification to go racing is to develop new technology that can eventually filter down to their production motorcycles.

Yamaha Factory Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis.

Honda has quite openly been accused of spending a vast amount of money on their seamless system. But is this purely speculation? This brings us back to Formula One. The FIA outlawed automatic, CVT and twin clutch transmissions in the 1990’s, but for the 2005 season, the governing body deemed seamless gearboxes legal. One of the first cabs of the rank was the BAR Honda Formula One team who promptly announced they had developed such a gearbox for an introduction that season.

So seamless gearbox technology is not new to Honda having introduced it in F1 some six years before it appeared on the RC212V of the Repsol Honda Team in 2011. It would, therefore, be safe to suggest that the cost to Honda for using existing technology would not have been as extreme as some would have us believe.

Considering Dorna’s close links with F1, it’s a surprising oversight that the move to seamless technology by Honda was not anticipated.

Archives: Italian Masterpiece

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The 250cc Benelli G.P. racer on display at the Birdwood Mill National Motor Museum in the late 1980’s

It was in the mid-1970’s that I first stumbled across the exotic little Benelli 250cc GP bike. I’d made my usual pilgrimage to South Australia’s motorcycling mecca, which at that time was Adelaide’s Pirie Street, where I spotted the green and silver racer. It was prominently displayed in the doorway of one of the many motorcycle shops that had come and gone over the years and whose name now eludes me. The price tag tied to the alloy clip-on handlebar said $3,200, which seemed a lot considering I’d paid “only” $1,800 for a new Z1 900 Kawasaki, although I had no idea at the time of how rare the Benelli was.

My second encounter was some years later during a visit to South Australia’s Birdwood Mill National Motor Museum, nestled in the Adelaide Hills. Taking pride of place in the motorcycle display was the Benelli, but more surprising was a sign declaring it to be Australian Kel Carruthers’ 1969 250cc World Championship winning bike!

Over the years since that second chance meeting I’ve found the idea of a rare “works” racer – and a world championship winning one at that – finding its way into an Adelaide motorcycle shop extremely intriguing.

With my curiosity finally getting the better of me I decided to ring Jon Chittleborough, the curator of the motor museum, with the intention of putting together an article on the said GP racer. Jon confirmed that the bike was still on display at the museum and that I was quite welcome to come along and photograph it. But since becoming curator, he had been unable to confirm if the Benelli was, in fact, Carruthers’ championship winning bike as its past was somewhat foggy.

A masterpiece.

But before we go any further a brief description of the 250 fours, evolution is perhaps called for. It was in mid-1960’s that Giovanni Benelli and Ing Savelli introduced an entirely new design four-cylinder 250cc GP machine that would eventually replace their ageing D.O.H.C. single. In true fifties’ style the prototypes chassis was rather bulky and over-engineered, while on the other hand, the rim sizes were a narrow 2.590 x 18 front, with a matching 2.75 section rear. The engine was a dry sump design with vertical cylinders, double-overhead camshafts and two valves per cylinder. Bore and stroke measured 44 x 40.6mm for a capacity of 246.8cc, which was retained up to Carruthers’ world title-winner. Benelli claimed 122kg (268lb) dry weight for the bike and 40bhp at 13,000rpm, which compared quite well with the contemporary Honda of the day.

Benelli continued to rely on an updated version of their D.O.H.C. single during 1961 while they refined the untried four, so it was not until 1962 that the Benelli made its racing debut in the hands of works rider Silvio Grassetti. Many changes had been made to the machine since its first appearance, mainly the removal of the oil tank from under the seat in favour of a large-capacity bolt-on sump with a two-way pump mounted above it, and running off the camshaft drive pinion. Ignition on the prototype had been by battery and four coils with the points driven off the end of the inlet camshaft. This system had proved unsuitable as the four-lobe contact-breaker points tended to float at high rpm effectively reducing the engines ability to reach maximum revs. A Lucas magneto was installed on the right front side of the crankcase and bevel-driven of the camshaft pinion, which also had the desirable effect of reducing weight. The chassis was also partly redesigned and slightly wider sections tyres fitted.

The Lucas magneto fitted to the earlier model of the 250cc GP racer.

1964 saw the great Italian rider Tarquinio Provini join the team. He had been runner-up in the previous year’s title riding a supposedly obsolete Morini single, only losing out at the last round in Japan to Jim Redman’s Honda four after each had won four races apiece. The former two times world champions influence at Benelli was soon apparent with the factory completely redeveloping the bike.

The frame was made smaller and lighter helping to bring the overall weight down to 112kg (264lb) dry. New camshafts were installed which raised the rev limit and narrowed the power-band giving 48bhp 14,500rpm. To compensate for this, a seven-speed gearbox replaced the original six-speed unit. Two pairs of 20mm Dell’Orto’s provided Carburation with a single flat-sided float bowl between each pair. Provini was the first to reap the rewards of these changes by defeating the Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha factory teams at the opening European GP held in Barcelona’s Montjuich Park, although the rest of the season only produced fourth and two-fifth places respectively.

More alterations were made for 1965, with modified inlet and exhaust ports for better breathing, and new camshafts offering greater lift and dwell. Combustion chambers and piston crowns were given more squish area, while more substantial 24mm carburettors were fitted with specially tuned bell-mouths that gave an extra 2bhp. Usable power now started at 8,500rpm and lasted to 14,500rpm at which point it was producing 52bhp. However, the most significant change came in the form of a new magneto from a Mercury two-stroke outboard motor, modified for four-stroke use. The Lucas unit had been initially designed for the lower revving 350, and 500 fours produced by Gilera and MV in the 1950’s and proved unreliable when engine speeds went over 12,000rpm. The American made unit solved the problem and was retained to the end of the model’s development, although some experimentation was done with an early form of electronic ignition.

Beautiful sand-cast engine cases.

The chassis was also modified for 1965, being lowered and shortened even more, and equipped for the first time with disc brakes. Benelli was one of the first in GP racing to adopt this now universal feature. Unfortunately, the US made Airheart disc brakes were designed initially for go-kart use, and this, plus a lack of brake pad choice, resulted in the twin 7in discs being insufficient to stop a 112kg motorcycle at 143mph, which the Benelli was by then was capable of. By the end of the season, the team had reverted to drum brakes all round, especially after suffering braking problems in the pouring rain during the Italian GP at Monza, which nonetheless did not stop Provini winning convincingly by lapping every other finisher on the Italian four.

Meanwhile, the desperate struggle for supremacy in the 250cc class raged between Honda and Yamaha, accelerating development of their race bikes. Honda’s 250cc six-cylinder was now producing 60bhp and starting to handle thanks to the talents of Mike Hailwood. Benelli had to do something if they were not to be left behind.

Ing Savelli’s answer was to introduce a stop-gap model in the winter of 65/66 with three valves per cylinder, using two inlet and one exhaust. This helped to increase bottom-end torque but not top-end power, so inevitably a leaf was taken out of Honda’s book, and four valves per cylinder were adopted. This narrowed the power band again but increased maximum safe revs to 16,000 and boosted the engine’s output to 55bhp. It was on this machine, now painted slate grey instead of Benelli’s more colourful green, that Provini won their third consecutive Italian national title but failed to make any impression on the Japanese bikes in the Grands Prix. Then tragically, while practising for the 1966 TT at the Isle of Man, Provini crashed and seriously injured his back ending a great racing career.

This was a severe blow to Benelli, but they decided to continue on and enlisted Aermacchi rider Renzo Pasolini for 1967, although it was not until 1968 that he started to show his full potential on the 250 by winning the Italian title and coming second in the TT. By 1969 both Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha had withdrawn from GP racing giving Benelli perhaps their best chance at the title. Pasolini proved as much by winning all seven races of the keenly contested Italian season-openers and was the pundits choice for the world championship. Sadly, he crashed in practice for the second GP at Hockenheim and was injured seriously enough to miss the first three GP’s, including the important Isle of Man TT.

The Benelli has a purposeful look.

The Spanish Ossa factories remarkable monocoque two-stroke single, in the hands of Santiago Herrero, easily led the championship, forcing Benelli team manager Nardi Dei to enlist the services of reigning world champion Phil Read and privateer Aussie Kel Carruthers’ for the TT. Read retired during the race, but Carruthers’ swept to victory more than three minutes ahead of Frank Perris’ Suzuki.

Kel was rewarded with a place on the team for the rest of the season even after Pasolini returned to win the next GP in Holland. By this time Herrero’s challenge had begun to wane, and it was left to the two Benelli riders to slug out the remaining rounds. Unfortunately, Pasolini fell again in Finland putting himself out for the rest of the season. Carruthers then became team leader, and his less powerful two-valve engine was replaced with the eight-speed four-valve unit, which he used to notch up two wins and two-second places in the remaining four rounds to take out the world title.

American made Airheart disk brakes were originally designed for go-karts.

American made Airheart disk brakes were initially designed for go-karts.

It was indeed the 250 fours swan-song, winning the championship at its last gasp. The FIM in their wisdom had changed the rules at the end of 1969 for the 1970 season, limiting the 250 class to two cylinders and six gears, which also prevented Benelli from showing off its mind-boggling prototype 250cc V8 racer in public.

As the amiable Jon Chittleborough and I sat down in his office at the Birdwood Mill Motor Museum, it became apparent that there was quite a bit of mystery surrounding this particular Benelli. Unfortunately, the racer was obtained when the museum was still in private hands, and there’s very little in the way of records to go by. Jon has written to the Benelli factory in the hope of finding out a little more of the 250’s history, but regrettably Benelli English is even worse than the fabled Ducati English!

It is known, however, that the GP racer was brought into this country via Melbourne, probably by John Skepper of Zeltex Imports, who it’s thought was the importer of Benelli at that time. The Museum acquired the Benelli as a straight swap for a 1927 DS Harley Davidson after the local agents were unable to sell it. A previous employee of the Museum believed the Benelli was obtained from Carcycle (now Peter Stevens Motorcycles). But after checking with Mike Harris and Jim Russell (who had both been with Carcycle and its subsidiary sales team for over 20 years), this proved to be untrue, although Jim vaguely recalled seeing it for sale across the street in a shop that traded under the name of “Maintenance Services”.

The jewel-like engine is extremely compact.

Before the swap with the museum could go ahead, the importers had to get approval from the Benelli factory, which they did with the understanding that the 250 would not be raced. This brings us to the next part of our mystery and probably the saddest part of the story. The museums’ Benelli has had its engine entirely gutted. Whether this was done before the bike left Italy or after it arrived in Australia is not known for sure,. Although former road racer John Maher did tell the Museum he was offered a ride on the 250 GP racer by John Skepper when a Benelli 750cc six failed to show up in time for the Castrol Six-Hour production race.

It also confirms what I was told by the salesman at the motorcycle shop, who had assured me that the bike was still competitive with the production TZ Yamaha of the time. This creates the possibility that the engine parts could still be lying around in a dusty corner of someone’s garage.

Riders cockpit.

Perhaps the most contentious issue is whether the museums 250 was the one used to win the 1969 World Championship. Both Jon and I agreed it was probably an earlier model, possibly 1965 as it’s fitted with the Airheart disc brakes, Lucas magneto, and “straight” megaphones of that vintage. To add credence to this, about eleven years ago, Derek Pickard of Road and Race magazine visited the museum. He opined the view that it’s the bike that took Venturi to fourth place in 65/66 Italian Championships. Nonetheless, it’s still a very rare motorcycle. It even prompting seven times World Champion, John Surtees, to approach the museum in an attempt to acquire the 250 to add to the 500 he has on loan from the factory as there are very few “complete” 250cc fours in existence.

However, the museum would love to hear from anyone who can shed any further light on the Benelli, especially with regards to the missing engine parts as the museum would like to fully restore the 250. The museum can be contacted by writing to The Curator, Australian National Motor Museum, Main Street, Birdwood South Australia 5234.

The Rise Of Marc Marquez.

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Two 20-year-old MotoGP winners. Marquez the youngest ever by 133 days.

The temptation to compare great Grand Prix motorcycle racers from different eras is almost impossible to resist for many MotoGP commentators. Admittedly, it does help generate increased interest from the media, the fans, and the general public, but grabs of history both past and present that align nicely do not necessarily make for a fair comparison or do justice to those involved.

Marc Marquez has already claimed the mantle of the youngest winner of a MotoGP at age 20 by 133 days from “fast” Freddie Spencer. In 1983 Spencer went on to win his first World Championship aged 21 years in the 500cc class (MotoGP) becoming the youngest person to win the title. Marquez appears to be on course to wrest that achievement away from Spencer as well, currently leading the MotoGP World Championship with six rounds to go as this is written. However in 1985 at the age of 24 Spencer won both the 250cc (Moto2) and 500cc (MotoGP) World Championships, something that no other rider has done, and is a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated. It should also be noted that Marquez started racing in the 125cc World Championship in 2008 when he was 15 and has won both the 125cc (Moto3) World Championship and the Moto2 World Championship, although he was not the youngest champion of either of those two classes.

Freddie Spencer the youngest MotoGP World Champion at 21.

The same commentators are also espousing that rookie Marquez may win the MotoGP title in his first year. The last person to achieve this was Kenny Roberts 35 years ago in 1978. But here there is a rather significant difference in circumstance between Roberts achievement and that of Marquez should he attain the title.

Roberts World Championship effort was backed by Yamaha America, who only supplied his team with equipment. This consisted of three different GP racers for the three different classes Roberts was contesting. Formula 750, 500cc GP and 250cc GP – one machine for each class with no spare bikes. His crew chief was expatriate Australian, Kel Carruthers, a former 250cc World Champion and a mentor to Roberts, accompanied by mechanics Nobby Clark, Trevor Tilbury and a Yamaha technician. Roberts had helped develop Goodyear’s racing tyres in the States, and it was the American company that put up the money that was needed to go racing in Europe. Goodyear naturally supplied the tyres.

The situation was not an ideal one as Roberts explains, “When we got to our first race it became crystal clear that, for sure, I wasn’t a Yamaha factory rider. Venezuelan rider Johnny Cecotto was. It wasn’t hard to tell; all we had to do was look at his equipment and then look at ours. We did have a Yamaha engineer by the name of Mikawa, and at some races, we also had a Goodyear technician. But it was us against the factory, really.”

’78 World Champion Kenny Roberts at the ’79 French G.P. at Le Mans,

“So ’78 was a piece of work. I was riding 250 and 500 Grand Prix and Formula 750 as well. We had just one bike per class; no backup bikes. At practically every race it was my first look at the track. Usually, all I had was 30 minutes to figure it out. And not just the track, everything–the right lines, bike setup and tire selection, if there was any. There I was, aiming to beat reigning World Champion Barry Sheene, who’d usually seen the track a dozen times before. And we were on Goodyear tires. We were on our own there, too, because nearly everyone else was on Michelins. I swear, some things never change! To say the Goodyear guys had their hands full is to understate the problems we faced. Usually, the Goodyear guys would show up at a track they’d never seen before, which meant they didn’t have the right tires. That’s a nightmare you really don’t want to deal with. But deal with it we did.”

Roberts went on to win a hat-trick of 500cc World Championships.

Nonetheless, Goodyear eventually weighed in with more development tyres, and Yamaha finally supplied Roberts with a second bike for the 500cc GP class. Roberts dropped the 250cc title challenge after winning two races and at one stage leading the championship, finally finishing fourth in the standings. Roberts continued on with the Formula 750cc World Championship finishing second in the title five points behind Johnny Cecotto. But Roberts won the 500cc GP (MotoGP) World Championship by 10 points from Barry Sheene against a flotilla of factory Suzuki’s and the works Yamaha of Johnny Cecotto. It was an outstanding achievement.

Marc Marquez in action. A future multi MotoGP World Champion?

By comparison, Marc Marquez has raced in the world championships for five years now. In MotoGP, there is only one track that was new to him, Laguna Seca (The Circuit of the Americas was new to everyone in MotoGP this year). As a World Championship prodigy in the smaller classes, he has been groomed by both Repsol and Honda to fit seamlessly into the retired Casey Stoner’s seat at the team. With a dearth of experience from the team around him and mountain of electronic data to relate to and the use of control tyres, the only thing that can stop Marquez from claiming the title may be fate. He has proven he is fearless and usually comes out on top when pressured by his peers. Indeed if there is a similarity between Marc Marquez and Kenny Roberts championship campaign, it is the fact that they are both real racers in every sense of the word. And there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Marquez will continue to break records.

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