This has been the first summer back in Vancouver for a while, having had to spend the last couple of years working in South America & Alberta because of our great NDP governments policies. In Spring it was time to drag the slumbering John Player Norton out of hibernation from under it’s protective dust cover, see if the race leathers were the correct size, & go racing. The battle scared bike was given a complete service, a safety visual inspection & was declared ready for SOTP action, & yes, the leathers still fit. The only change to the machine for this year was the addition of a Quaife 5 speed gearbox to solve the mainshaft breakage problem I had last year with the Manx close ratio 4 speed.

The first race of the year was at PIR, I only spectated at this event because there was a race the following weekend at SIR & I could not afford to race 2 weekends in a row. You are allowed to drop 2 results out of the 7 round series for the season points total, but this omission would prove to be costly as the year progressed. At the next race at SIR, the bike refused to run for more than a couple of laps, a dead battery was found to be the culprit, even though I had fully charged it before the event. Trying to charge the battery at the track proved to be unsuccessful as people were constantly plugging & unplugging tire warmers etc. into the lone outlet. Two races & no points to show so far, that meant I had to compete in all the remaining rounds to stand a chance of doing well in the championship. Jerry Liggett debuted his immaculate Team Obsolete Rob North Trident at the event, having sold his Slippery Sam Replica to a museum in the States earlier last year. The total loss electrical system idea was abandoned by adding an alternator, rectifier & zener diode, so that I didn’t have to carry a battery charger with me to every race.

Chilliwack had 2 races this year, but because of the previous years cancellation, it was not included in this years Canadian Superbike Championship, pity really, as it was not well attended. I raced in both races, the 2nd one only counting towards SOTP points, the 1st was for extra practice time & to support a local function. Each year the track layout changes, so track knowledge is not an advantage. Being a small airport, the pavement is very bad to say the least, with changes in construction material, painted lines & metal sewer covers to make for interesting racing. I’d managed to drop the bike in morning practice at one corner which was giving me problems all weekend, it didn’t help that a truck had just dumped a large cooler full of iced water on the track just before that practice & I slid right through it! Luckily all I broke was a clutch lever & I managed to borrow one off Swiss Neiederberger’s spare Gold Star & get back out onto the track for the main events. When it came to refill my fuel tank, I realized I’d brought the wrong gas can, & I had to borrow some gas off Digger, a guy who races a Norton in the States. Vintage racers are more interested in fixing your bike & getting you back out onto the track to try & beat you there, than to leave you stranded in the pits. As irony would have it, Digger beat me for 2nd place & I beat Swiss for 3rd. I even managed to get the hole shot & lead the race, that was a first. It felt great knowing that the others behind me where trying to get passed, & I was holding them off, well at least for a couple of corners!

Spokane was the next event, & I had never raced there before, it is a great track, a cross between Westwood & SIR, I will definitely go back again. Practice went good, gaining speed & confidence as the day went on. For the race I got a great start & was dicing with the guy who got 1st at Chilliwack, then all of a sudden no forward drive, I had ripped the teeth off my belt drive. And yes, I had forgotten to bring my spare one with me, again no points this weekend. Again the vintage racers at the track were very helpful, especially Les Cook who races an immaculate Norton Atlas, who said I could borrow his spare belt, but it was the wrong length.

The next 2 rounds were at PIR, my favorite track, my confidence & speed were improving, & I was starting to get my knee down in most corners, something I had never been able to do before. Must buy some knee sliders. Both events were great battles with Les Cook on his equally powered Atlas, Dave Kaechele, BMW mounted & Craig Echols riding a Ducati, what a great cacophony of noise for the crowd. I kept missing top gear on the back straight & the others would pull a number of bike lengths on me, then I would have to make up time on the other parts of the track. I would catch them in the corners, but not having the confidence to dive under them, something I will have to work on next season. Whilst placed a comfortable 4th in one race, the clutch lever fell off & disconnected the ignition cut out switch wires, I managed to hold them together, & limp home to at least gain some valuable points.

The final round of the SOTP season was at SIR, which had a Team Obsolete racing school tutored by Dave Roper & with Eric Green they both led a follow my leader race track session. It is amazing how late & deep these experts brake into a corner & late apex so they can get a good drive out for the next straight or corner. Team Obsolete owner Rob Iannoucci was there also to look after Cal Rayborn III Harley Davidson XRTT750 racer, this was the very same one that his father raced in the 70’s at Daytona & in the Trans Atlantic series, where he gained his fame. See the December 2000 issue of Cycle World for an in detail feature on this incredible bike. It was a great experience to race against these racers, but as usual for SIR the weather did not cooperate, instead of just raining, it p*ssed it down! I have never raced before in the rain, usually chickening out, but I needed the points, so bravely (stupidly) went out. The start was amazing with everybody fish tailing off the line & down the drag strip straight as they all changed gears. I nearly lost the front end a couple of times & at one point ended up on the grass, but again managed to get it back onto the track with only a change of underwear to worry about! It’s amazing how much traction you do have in the wet with DOT tires, I will have to practice more. Tom Mellor on his Trident had an incredible battle with Rayborn, swapping the lead numerous times a lap, with Tom beating him to the line for the win, I finished quite a way back!

To finish the race season off I treated myself to the final race at PIR, where I managed another 3rd place. The final standings for me for the SOTP season were 7th out of 25 in the Open Vintage class, 3rd in the Vintage Supertwins class & 2nd in the Peter Williams series. Not bad considering the bad start I had to the season, roll on next year where hopefully I can compete in the whole event with no breakdowns, that’s if I’m still working here!

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