Britain has always been a nation of speed junkies – unless savouring an expertly made afternoon tea, of course. We’ve checked what’s currently brewing in the Classic Driver Market, and now bring you our favourite British legends of speed…
mercredi 2 avril 2014
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Triumph Thruxton Redux
Riding Triumph’s Café Racer on the Street and Track
Having grown up in a motorcycling household, I didn't join the brotherhood in the Hollywood fashion. No desolate road stretching out in front of me, spawning gritty resilience and buoying me on with the mere thought of freedom. My dad did all of the rebelling without a cause when he was a young man.
I grew up at a racetrack. For me, it was mostly tire walls, grid positions, and focus. When the opportunity recently arose to race at the outstanding Barber Motorsports Park, it was right up my alley—an extension of my very upbringing. And it was fitting that I was going to race a Triumph Thruxton, a bike hearkening back to the days of my father's own insubordinate and reckless youth.
The racing would be awesome, surely, but that's a world I know well. I could show up at the track and race, but why not truly embrace the café racer genre and ride a Thruxton to Alabama? That would put some hair on my scrawny chest, not to mention provide a glimpse of what made my father such a lovable scofflaw. Triumph North America saw wisdom in the plan and so stranded two bikes in New Orleans, for me and Road Test Editor Ari Henning to ride to Barber—a Bonneville T100 for him and a Thruxton 900 for yours truly.
Our plan for the two bikes: a 500-mile road trip from New Orleans to Birmingham along the Gulf Coast, then north to Barber Motorsports Park via state and county roads. After which point would come the real challenge, competing on a race-prepared Thruxton in the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) Thruxton Trans-Atlantic Challenge, otherwise known as the Thruxton Cup, a part of the 9th Annual Barber Vintage Festival.
We picked up the two bikes in New Orleans, reeling from not enough sleep and too many brightly colored frozen drinks on Bourbon Street. Our old-fashioned Trumpets were conveniently deposited at a local shop, The Transportation Revolution in downtown NOLA. After gawking at their facility for a little while, we shook hands and pointed our beaks east.
The author (44x) dives for the lead as Jason DiSalvo (40) lurks and Thad Wolff (37x) plots his revenge.
The Thruxton's riding position was more committed than I expected but still comfortable. True to the café racer consortium, I suppose, and I thumbed the starter button anxiously awaiting the unruly, sneering bark that would surely come out the pipes. Instead, curiously, it sounded like a well-maintained sewing machine. Ah well, tame pipes suit a road trip just fine, and if I was as hungover as some of the folks we saw the night before, I wouldn't want loud pipes in my proximity either. And so the wrought-iron railings and narrow streets of the French Quarter stoically bid us farewell—or tried to anyway.
We chose the path less researched to leave town, meaning plenty of U-turns and unnecessary stop signs. It was a good test of the bikes in an urban environment, but mostly it tested our friendship. And as expected, apart from the exhaust note not matching my rebellious smirk and leather jacket, the bike proved a competent urban companion. Finally clear of the city and shouting matches over which way to go, we set out along the coast via Route 90.
What we thought would be a scenic cruise through the bayou was relatively uninteresting, what with a water-level road lined with trees and shrubs. When we did stop to soak up a vista we were shocked at the amount of insect life we could hear and see at the roadside. Dragonflies the size of small birds were either mating or mounting an attack against humanity, limiting our speed on the road and making us seriously question our choice of open-face helmets.
By mid-day we had crossed into Mississippi and, proud of our progress, peeled off 90 to look for some fresh-caught lunch. Pale, tropical beaches stretched out before us, just across the road from stately Southern mansions complete with weeping willows and confederate memories. We cruised along the beach until the town of Bay St. Louis, which provided a welcome break from the Thruxton's seat as well as a fish sandwich that exceeded expectations. Route 90 joined us near the sand soon after and carried us adjacent to the water for the next 40 miles to Biloxi.
With daylight waning as we entered Alabama, we abandoned trusty Highway 90 again to look for a scenic sunset route into Mobile. We landed in the town of Bayou La Batre, perhaps best known for being the hometown of Forrest Gump's best Army buddy, Bubba Blue. Okay, fine, we were lost, but the fishing docks and marshland served up a stunning Gulf Coast sunset before the mosquitos chased us the final 35 miles to Mobile.
Pleased with our sterling anti-interstate effort from the previous day we stuck to two-lane roads again the next morning and wound our way deeper into the Bible Belt. Swampy coastal lands gave way to gently rolling hills. We jumped railroad tracks and took pictures of cotton fields as we passed by one stereotype after another, until a final sprint down the interstate landed us at our hotel just outside the gates of Barber.
Anyone seeing Barber Motorsports Park for the first time will surely be awestruck; it's difficult to describe just how exquisitely prepared the grounds are, but here's an example: A staff member told us about one particular line of oak trees along a paddock road that had all been grafted from the same "mother oak" for symmetry in the row.
Race leathers matching the borrowed Thruxton was lucky, while George Barber’s incredible facility is a result of an immense in-vestment and obsessive grooming.
The Thruxton I raced at Barber was prepared and owned by Paul Canale, a Thruxton Cup regular with the generosity (naiveté?) to lend me his backup bike. An orthopedist by trade, Canale's custom "Team Orthopedics" paint job accented the race prep that had gone into the bike. Immediately noticeable were stickier tires, reservoir shocks, clip-ons instead of a handlebar, and rear-set footpegs. The bike, while pristine, almost certainly wouldn't matter. I'd never seen the track before, and my only Thruxton experience was two days old on the stock, sewing machine edition.
Much to the delight of the rebel inside me, a 2-into-1 race exhaust gave it the raspy, purposeful snarl I was looking for in the stock bike (and then some). The bike sounded confident, but I couldn't say I felt the same rolling out on the track for the first time. Fortunately, even in race trim the Thruxton isn't a very fast bike and in many ways the perfect way to acclimate to a new racetrack. It was easy to ride at a "learning" pace, and manageable power meant it was easier for my brain to keep up. Other than struggling with a lack of feel in the aftermarket front brake setup, I was feeling comfortable after a few sessions.
Soon after my newfound confidence arrived, Daytona 200 winner Jason DiSalvo passed me on what I assumed was a supercharged or jet-fueled Thruxton, smooth enough to distract and fast enough to crush any spirit. The rest of the hurdles to clear were familiar to me from my previous vintage-racing experience—front-end chatter from a spindly conventional fork, dragging hard parts when leaning over, and a general lack of performance. I was ready. This was going to be fun.
With no previous points in the Thruxton Cup for 2013, I gridded up dead last on race day, in the middle of the fifth row and right alongside DiSalvo. Hey, why am I last and he's second to last? I thought. He must have registered first. Man, he's fast everywhere. I angled the bike ever so slightly toward the outside of the track, hoping that the good racing starts I enjoyed in my more venerable days would magically return.
The Thruxton grunted off the line, and while everyone dived to the inside for Turn 1, I swept around the outside of the pack. With adrenaline fully in charge, I passed all the Thruxtons ahead of me, save one; it was none other than Motorcyclist contributor and cagy racing veteran Thad Wolff, who peeled into the long right-hander of turn 2 leading the race. I got alongside Thad three turns later at the entry of the left-hand hairpin known as Charlotte's Web (due to the enormous spider sculpture) and forced my way into the lead.
After all these years, leading a race again! The rush of potential victory lasted about 50 yards until just after the apex of the same turn when DiSalvo glided by on the outside, supercharger whining. I followed him down the three-story drop of the "Museum Curve"—so called because it sweeps past the incredible Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum—and onto the back straightaway. By the end of the first lap he was too far ahead to learn anything, and I focused my attention on maintaining second place.
Just like the stock "Singer" model had done on the street, the race-ready Thruxton proved a worthy steed to fly around a track, again with some exceptions. Beyond getting used to the wooden brake, I had to be gentle changing directions. Quick transitions were easy, but longer setups at the end of straightaways or between curves would often sprout a speed wobble that threatened to grow into a full-blown crash. Hell hath no fury like an old-fashioned tank-slapper.
The Barber 2013 Thruxton Cup competitors pose.
Although my loaner Trumpet wasn't technically vintage, all of the challenges I faced riding around Barber reminded me of why I love classic motorcycle racing. The Thruxton belted out a raspy, visceral note, but it also chattered, wiggled, wobbled, and protested steep lean angles. To me, this kind of riding is such a beautifully symbiotic compromise between man and machine. Rather than holding on for dear life like most of us do on a modern sportbike, it's working with the machine to go as fast as possible—like riding a skittish horse. Smooth and predictable, and when the bike pushes back the rider must react gently, coaxing the motorcycle back on line.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I fought off one more challenge by the end of the race, despite being caught up in a wave of nostalgic bliss, and brought the borrowed Thruxton home in second place. It was a successful result, in my mind, especially considering the competition. As I prophesized at the beginning of the weekend, where I finished didn't matter much in the end, because the plan had worked. Triumph's Thruxton in stock trim brought me closer to the roots I have often longed for in motorcycling, while the race bike rejuvenated my love of competition and introduced me to the fantastic event that is the Barber Vintage Festival.
Bike owner Paul Canale shows approval of the author not crashing his bike.
I grew up at a racetrack. For me, it was mostly tire walls, grid positions, and focus. When the opportunity recently arose to race at the outstanding Barber Motorsports Park, it was right up my alley—an extension of my very upbringing. And it was fitting that I was going to race a Triumph Thruxton, a bike hearkening back to the days of my father's own insubordinate and reckless youth.
The racing would be awesome, surely, but that's a world I know well. I could show up at the track and race, but why not truly embrace the café racer genre and ride a Thruxton to Alabama? That would put some hair on my scrawny chest, not to mention provide a glimpse of what made my father such a lovable scofflaw. Triumph North America saw wisdom in the plan and so stranded two bikes in New Orleans, for me and Road Test Editor Ari Henning to ride to Barber—a Bonneville T100 for him and a Thruxton 900 for yours truly.
Our plan for the two bikes: a 500-mile road trip from New Orleans to Birmingham along the Gulf Coast, then north to Barber Motorsports Park via state and county roads. After which point would come the real challenge, competing on a race-prepared Thruxton in the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) Thruxton Trans-Atlantic Challenge, otherwise known as the Thruxton Cup, a part of the 9th Annual Barber Vintage Festival.
We picked up the two bikes in New Orleans, reeling from not enough sleep and too many brightly colored frozen drinks on Bourbon Street. Our old-fashioned Trumpets were conveniently deposited at a local shop, The Transportation Revolution in downtown NOLA. After gawking at their facility for a little while, we shook hands and pointed our beaks east.
The author (44x) dives for the lead as Jason DiSalvo (40) lurks and Thad Wolff (37x) plots his revenge.We chose the path less researched to leave town, meaning plenty of U-turns and unnecessary stop signs. It was a good test of the bikes in an urban environment, but mostly it tested our friendship. And as expected, apart from the exhaust note not matching my rebellious smirk and leather jacket, the bike proved a competent urban companion. Finally clear of the city and shouting matches over which way to go, we set out along the coast via Route 90.
By mid-day we had crossed into Mississippi and, proud of our progress, peeled off 90 to look for some fresh-caught lunch. Pale, tropical beaches stretched out before us, just across the road from stately Southern mansions complete with weeping willows and confederate memories. We cruised along the beach until the town of Bay St. Louis, which provided a welcome break from the Thruxton's seat as well as a fish sandwich that exceeded expectations. Route 90 joined us near the sand soon after and carried us adjacent to the water for the next 40 miles to Biloxi.
Pleased with our sterling anti-interstate effort from the previous day we stuck to two-lane roads again the next morning and wound our way deeper into the Bible Belt. Swampy coastal lands gave way to gently rolling hills. We jumped railroad tracks and took pictures of cotton fields as we passed by one stereotype after another, until a final sprint down the interstate landed us at our hotel just outside the gates of Barber.
Anyone seeing Barber Motorsports Park for the first time will surely be awestruck; it's difficult to describe just how exquisitely prepared the grounds are, but here's an example: A staff member told us about one particular line of oak trees along a paddock road that had all been grafted from the same "mother oak" for symmetry in the row.
Race leathers matching the borrowed Thruxton was lucky, while George Barber’s incredible facility is a result of an immense in-vestment and obsessive grooming.Much to the delight of the rebel inside me, a 2-into-1 race exhaust gave it the raspy, purposeful snarl I was looking for in the stock bike (and then some). The bike sounded confident, but I couldn't say I felt the same rolling out on the track for the first time. Fortunately, even in race trim the Thruxton isn't a very fast bike and in many ways the perfect way to acclimate to a new racetrack. It was easy to ride at a "learning" pace, and manageable power meant it was easier for my brain to keep up. Other than struggling with a lack of feel in the aftermarket front brake setup, I was feeling comfortable after a few sessions.
Soon after my newfound confidence arrived, Daytona 200 winner Jason DiSalvo passed me on what I assumed was a supercharged or jet-fueled Thruxton, smooth enough to distract and fast enough to crush any spirit. The rest of the hurdles to clear were familiar to me from my previous vintage-racing experience—front-end chatter from a spindly conventional fork, dragging hard parts when leaning over, and a general lack of performance. I was ready. This was going to be fun.
With no previous points in the Thruxton Cup for 2013, I gridded up dead last on race day, in the middle of the fifth row and right alongside DiSalvo. Hey, why am I last and he's second to last? I thought. He must have registered first. Man, he's fast everywhere. I angled the bike ever so slightly toward the outside of the track, hoping that the good racing starts I enjoyed in my more venerable days would magically return.
The Thruxton grunted off the line, and while everyone dived to the inside for Turn 1, I swept around the outside of the pack. With adrenaline fully in charge, I passed all the Thruxtons ahead of me, save one; it was none other than Motorcyclist contributor and cagy racing veteran Thad Wolff, who peeled into the long right-hander of turn 2 leading the race. I got alongside Thad three turns later at the entry of the left-hand hairpin known as Charlotte's Web (due to the enormous spider sculpture) and forced my way into the lead.
Just like the stock "Singer" model had done on the street, the race-ready Thruxton proved a worthy steed to fly around a track, again with some exceptions. Beyond getting used to the wooden brake, I had to be gentle changing directions. Quick transitions were easy, but longer setups at the end of straightaways or between curves would often sprout a speed wobble that threatened to grow into a full-blown crash. Hell hath no fury like an old-fashioned tank-slapper.
The Barber 2013 Thruxton Cup competitors pose.I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I fought off one more challenge by the end of the race, despite being caught up in a wave of nostalgic bliss, and brought the borrowed Thruxton home in second place. It was a successful result, in my mind, especially considering the competition. As I prophesized at the beginning of the weekend, where I finished didn't matter much in the end, because the plan had worked. Triumph's Thruxton in stock trim brought me closer to the roots I have often longed for in motorcycling, while the race bike rejuvenated my love of competition and introduced me to the fantastic event that is the Barber Vintage Festival.
Bike owner Paul Canale shows approval of the author not crashing his bike.mardi 1 avril 2014
Valentino Rossi à l’assaut du Dakar
Nonuple champion du monde, Valentino Rossi va tenter l’expérience du célèbre rallye raid, le Dakar, au guidon d’une Yamaha-Michelin, dès 2015.
A 35 ans, Valentino Rossi se lance un nouveau défi en participant à l’édition 2015 du Dakar. « The doctor » affrontera les pistes exigeantes d’Argentine, de Bolivie et du Chili pour tenter de rallier l’arrivée le 17 janvier à Buenos Aires. L’Italien ne se fixe pas d’objectif précis même si franchir la ligne d’arrivée dans le Top 10 serait une énorme satisfaction.
Suite au départ de Cyril Despres chez Peugeot Sport, l’arrivée de Valentino Rossi est une bonne nouvelle pour Yamaha. Les premiers essais seraient programmés au mois de juillet lors de la traditionnelle trêve estivale en MotoGP.
A suivre …
A strong entry for the Algarve / Du (beau) monde en Algarve !
With the exception of Rally Finland, which frequently attracts some 100 starters, the 2014 Vodafone Rally de Portugal is the WRC’s most popular round for five years, with an entry of 85 crews. Sébastien Ogier and Volkswagen are the big favourites.
The entry list features 15 World Rally Cars, 17 WRC-2 runners and 14 crews in the WRC-3 and Junior categories, plus 13 Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy contestants and 14 Portuguese Championship contenders.
Volkswagen Motorsport is on a run of seven straight wins and its line-up includes three-time Portugal winner Sébastien Ogier, along with Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen who drove the Polo R WRC/Michelin for the first time here in 2013. The championship’s leaders Ogier and Latvala will be first on the road on Friday, but that shouldn’t be a big handicap because rain is forecast all week in the Algarve.
Despite their Mexican woes, Mads Ostberg and Kris Meeke have a good momentum going at the moment, and the Citroën DS3 WRC is likely to be competitive on Portugal’s technical stages. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motorsport is running three i20 WRCs for the first time (for Neuville, Hanninen and Sordo) and the rally promises to provide the first real indication of the car’s potential after the team’s top-three finish in Mexico.
In the M-Sport camp, Mikko Hirvonen has yet to win in Portugal after six attempts (he was disqualified after his 2012 victory), while Elfyn Evans was eighth in WRC-2 last year following a transmission problem. Even so, the Welshman was fastest on all the final leg’s stages. Robert Kubica also took part in the 2013 WRC-2 battle but used the Rally2 ruling twice en route to sixth place. Finally, Portugal will be Ott Tanak’s second appearance of the season in the Fiesta RS WRC.
This year’s WRC-2 entry stars Jari Ketomaa, Yuri Protasov, Pontus Tidemand, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Julien Maurin, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Martin Kangur, all in Ford Fiestas (R5, RRC or S2000), so there is every chance the category will be won by an M-Sport built car!
The 2014 Junior-WRC kicks off in Portugal, too, and the 14 Michelin-equipped Citroën DS3 R3s will be driven by the likes of Stéphane Lefebvre, Simone Tempestini, Christian Riedemann, Alastair Fisher, Jan Cerny and Molly Taylor who are the class’s most internationally known names.
The Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy has attracted a number of former J-WRC runners, such as José Suarez, Yeray Lemes, Sander Pärn and Marius Aasen. Others to watch include Quentin Gilbert, Ghislain de Mevius and Max Vatanen.
The host country’s top representatives are three-time Portuguese champions Ricardo Moura (Fabia S2000) and Adruzilo Lopes (Subaru), plus the 1995 P-WRC champion Rui Madeira (Fiesta R5).
The traditional format visits familiar stages (Silves, Ourique, Almodovar, Santana da Serra, etc.) after the official start on Thursday afternoon in Estoril, for the first time since 1994. Competitive action will begin with a super-special alongside the Tagus River in Lisbon.
Hormis le Rallye de Finlande qui réunit régulièrement une centaine d’équipages, le plateau du Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2014 est le plus fourni du WRC depuis cinq ans avec 85 engagés. Sébastien Ogier et Volkswagen sont plus que jamais favoris.
Parmi les 85 engagements, on dénombre 15 World Rally Cars, 17 prétendants en WRC-2, 14 en WRC-3 et championnat Junior, 13 en Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy et 14 pilotes engagés au Championnat du Portugal.
Après sept victoires consécutives, Volkswagen Motorsport sera de nouveau l’équipe à battre ce week-end avec le triple vainqueur du Portugal, Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala et Andreas Mikkelsen qui avait débuté au volant de la Polo R WRC/Michelin ici-même l’an passé. Leaders du championnat, Ogier et Latvala ouvriront la piste vendredi, mais ce ne devrait pas être un lourd handicap puisqu’on annonce de la pluie toute la semaine sur l’Algarve.
Malgré leurs déconvenues au Mexique, Mads Ostberg et Kris Meeke sont sur une bonne dynamique et la Citroën DS3 WRC devrait encore être performante sur ces spéciales techniques. Pour Hyundai Motorsport, qui aligne pour la 1ère fois trois i20 WRC – Neuville, Hanninen, Sordo -, ce sera un vrai indicateur sur le 1er rallye représentatif de la saison. Là aussi, Hyundai Motorsport est sur une bonne dynamique après son 1er podium mondial au Mexique.
Quid de M-Sport ? En six participations, Mikko Hirvonen n’a jamais réussi à s’imposer officiellement sur ce rallye (sa victoire en 2012 avait été annulée). Elfyn Evans avait terminé 8edu classement WRC-2 l’an passé après un problème de transmission. Mais le Gallois avait signé tous les meilleurs temps de la catégorie le dernier jour. Robert Kubica évoluait lui aussi en WRC-2 en 2013 : il avait eu besoin de deux Rally2 pour venir à bout du parcours et prendre la 6eplace. On attend confirmation de l’Estonien Ott Tanak pour sa 2e course de la saison sur la Fiesta RS WRC.
En WRC-2, il y a là aussi du beau monde avec Jari Ketomaa, Yuri Protasov, Pontus Tidemand, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Julien Maurin, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Martin Kangur, tous sur des Ford Fiesta (R5, RRC et S2000). On ne voit pas comment la catégorie pourrait échapper à une voiture sortie des ateliers M-Sport !
Le championnat Junior-WRC 2014 débute au Portugal avec 14 Citroën DS3 R3/Michelin également engagées en catégorie WRC-3. Stéphane Lefebvre, Simone Tempestini, Christian Riedemann, Alastair Fisher, Jan Cerny ou encore Molly Taylor sont les plus connus sur la scène internationale.
En Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy, on retrouvera d’anciens pensionnaires du championnat Junior comme José Suarez, Yeray Lemes, Sander Pärn ou Marius Aasen. A suivre les prestations de Quentin Gilbert, Ghislain de Mevius et Max Vatanen. Enfin, parmi les pilotes portugais, on retrouvera les triples champions nationaux Ricardo Moura (Fabia S2000) et Adruzilo Lopes (Subaru) ou encore le Champion du monde PWRC 1995 Rui Madeira (Fiesta R5).
Clubbed to deaf: The best of the 72nd Goodwood Members' Meeting
With the Festival of Speed and Revival brim-full in recent years, 2014 saw Lord March add another event to the Goodwood calendar. The weekend’s 72nd Members' Meeting was held at the circuit, almost 48 years after the 71st…
Between 1948 and 1966, the Members’ Meetings were held every few months, with the era’s finest drivers descending on Sussex for the benefit of British Automobile Racing Club members. This year, the limited-entry affair drew more than 20,000 spectators to the resurrected event – which several attendees likened to a ‘distilled crowd’ Revival meeting, along with the added bonus of more liberal racing categories, including those for post-1966 machines. Of these, the Longtail Le Mans cars, Group B rally monsters and Turbo F1 cars garnered most attention, the latter group particularly relevant with their modern-day descendants simultaneously in action in Malaysia.
Red-blooded racing
While those categories were limited to sprints and demonstration outings, red-blooded racing was also on offer throughout the weekend. The Moss Trophy saw an epic battle, with the Ferrari 250 Breadvan taking a lengthy lead as expected, only to drop down the pack later in the race. This left the DK Engineering Jaguar E-type, Lotus Eleven Breadvan and Aston Martin DB4GT to fight for first, the Aston pipping the Lotus by a car length after a prolonged dogfight. The latter’s performance was particularly commendable, given its underdog status in the ‘Battle of the Breadvans’ as a result of a 50-year competition absence. Another fascinating tussle saw RM’s Max Girardo spin his increasingly pendulous Ferrari TdF on the final lap of the Tony Gaze Trophy, relinquishing first place to an AC Ace-Bristol that had, incidentally, also won at its last Members’ Meeting outing, back in the 1960s.
Sensory overload
Sights, smells and sounds of rare machinery were prevalent across the motor circuit – thunderous American muscle vibrating your core, while the screaming V12 of the 1972 Le Mans-winning Matra-Simca MS670B went to work on your eardrums. Incidentally, the Members’ Meeting took up two of the five days this year during which the Goodwood circuit’s decibel limit is waived, the other three being the Revival. Other multi-sensory spectacles included Jochen Mass expertly dancing a Gullwing around the ultra-technical circuit, and Sir Stirling doing parade laps in the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione in which he won five significant races in period.
Even safety a spectacle
Many Classic Driver affiliates were in action in some capacity or other, including JD Classics,William I’Anson, Desmond Smail and DK Engineering. The Cottingham family behind the latter not only raced a GT40 and an E-type, but also piloted the Ferrari F40 safety car duo that kept the demonstration-only classes from turning competitive. Indeed, the safety cars were an exhibition in themselves – only at Goodwood would an Aston DB5, a McLaren P1, a Jaguar XJS and a Bullitt Mustang be employed in such a role. As is traditional at Goodwood, there were plenty of forms of non-automotive entertainment – an aircraft hangar-turned-nightclub, a spectacular fireworks display and a Spitfire fly-by just a few examples. The question on the lips of the departing spectators on Sunday evening was a poignant one: how can Lord March possibly improve the 73rd Meeting? He’s managed during the last few decades with the Festival of Speed and the Revival, so it’s a question to which we're already looking forward to the answer.
Photos: Tim Brown
Thousands of classic cars can be found for sale in the Classic Driver Market.
Bell & Ross B-Rocket: Lift-off, with a twist
Alfa Romeo's heavenly-looking 4C might have been voted 'most beautiful car of 2013' at January's International Automobile Festival in Paris - but it was watch brand Bell & Ross that caused the biggest stir of the event...
On home turf, the French watchmaker pulled the wraps off a wild-looking motorcycle which has just been 'officially' unveiled at the Baselworld watch show.
The B-Rocket is heavily based on the watch brand's associations with aviation
The retro-futuristic 'B-Rocket' is the work of British custom bike builder Shaw Harley-Davidson, which first collaborated with Bell & Ross three years ago when Shaw's chief sales executive, Steve Willis, proposed creating a unique machine as a promotional tool for the brand. The result was the 'Nascafe Racer', which came third in the 2011 American Motorcycle Dealer world custom championships and has subsequently served as an irresistible crowd puller at Bell & Ross events around the world.
The success of the Nascafe prompted B & R founder Bruno Belamich to commission Shaw to build the even more radical B-Rocket, which is heavily based on the watch brand's associations with aviation.
E.T. go prone
The idea of building the bike so it is ridden in a prone position came from a 1930s Brough Superior speed record machine seen at last year's Salon Privé in London, although the basis of the B-Rocket was a standard Harley-Davidson FXS Softail Blackline cruiser.
Shaw's in-house fabricator, Dave Rollison, crafted the steel, jet-like bodywork entirely by hand, while design and build genius Neil Sefton carefully pieced everything together to create the beautifully finished product.
Precision-engineered projectile
The tail piece is made from 30 separate sections of steel with Plexiglass lowers covering the chain, rear brake and solid wheel covers. Hand-made brass grilles help to cool the 10-inch brake discs, while the front end of the bike features a pair of small, adjustable 'wings' mounted on the girder forks to optimise airflow.
To coincide with the bike's unveiling, Bell & Ross has launched two 'B-Rocket' watches - the 46mm BR01 B-Rocket chronograph and the 42mm BR03 B-Rocket with large date and power reserve indication. Prices start at around 4,500 euros.
Photos: Bell & Ross
You can find plenty of classic motorcycles and Bell & Ross watches for sale in the Classic Driver Market.
Shaw Speed and Custom is based in the English town of Lewes, East Sussex, and builds one-off Harley-Davidson-based bikes to order. For an idea of what can be achieved, see shawspeedandcustom.co.uk
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