ClassicRacer 13
Welcome
Excited
(andexcitable)
The past fewweeks
have seenme attend
several meetingswith
somemajor players in
the racing world.
Youmay be surprised to hearnot much
of whatwasdiscussedcentred around
modern, flashyracing.What wasthe hot
topic of conversation washow ‘modern’
classic racingcould be used moreand
expandedupon.
Yousee,what thesepeople in charge of
places that holdraces want is people like
us.We’reavery wantable (I know, not areal
word)resource.
Apparently,what we do in amuchmore
serious-yet-still-friendly-and-largely-open
way than otherswholikemotorsportis
very nearly the ideal race weekend for
organisersandvenuehosts.
We turn up, we have afew people withus.
Alot of ourfriendsand family turn up.We
draw agoodcrowd too.We spend money.
And somewherealongthe line we haven’t
forgottenhow to have fun. So there’salot
of smilesgoing on,which makes the whole
shebangathoroughly pleasant experience.
Now, Iknownone of this is earth-
shattering news,but writingas someone
whohas spentthe last 25+ years in
paddocks aroundthe worldIcan tell youit’s
notthatoften various peoplefrom different
avenuesofracing independently saythe
samething.They want moreclassicracing.
What’scausedthis?The successofrecent
events likeEnduranceLegends and the
publicity that followedhas beenabig
impetus in getting thingsmoving.And
there’salso an element of cost,too.
If youwant to runaWSBor MotoGP round
then you’ve gottoget spending... andthen
turn your eyestoclawingbackasmuch
of the moneyasyou’ve just splashedout
from the attending crowds. Goodluckwith
managing aprofit,bythe way.
Buthere’sthe thing. If youcan provide a
motorcycle race series at abig venue then
youmight justget agood, large crowd.
Promoteitproperly andyou could geta
similarnumberof people as youwouldfor,
say,aWSBorMotoGP round.You’ve not
had to splashout abig pile of cashto host
the event,sowhat youend up withis a
nice bit of profitfromticketsales,digitalTV
coverage (I’m guessing). It’s awin/win.
So youstartwithone round ayear,that
growsintotwo and thenthree. Before you
know it the biggest single revenue stream
forbig circuitsisthe classic racing scene.
And with morevenues, bigger crowdsand
easily accessible funyou getmorepeople
takingpart.
We’reonthe cuspofsomething,andmight
all benefitifwe could getsomemoreofthe
topbrass all aroundthesame table fora
pow-wow.What do youthink?
Have afast lap.
TonyAfteraweek of qualifyingfor thecompetitors
theClassicTTreallycomesto life on Friday,
August 25 whenthe Paddock Carnivalkicks off
at theTT Grandstand, with eight-timeTT winner
CharlieWilliamsasMC.
On stage behind the Grandstand, in aseries
of chat shows, will be six-timeworld champion
Jim Redmanand formerHondafactory rider
StuartGraham, as well as modern dayTTstars
John McGuinness,Dean Harrison,Michael
Dunlop and James Hillier.
In NoblesPark therewill be acar and
motorcycle Concours d’Elegance,as well as
familyfairground ridesand entertainment.The
ClassicTT Paddock Carnivalruns frommidday
kicks and is free to enter.
TheClassicTT organisers are inviting
prestigiouscar and bikeowners to display
their machinesin the 2017 ClassicTT Concours
d’Elegance,whichistaking place on Friday,
August 25 as partofthis year’s ClassicTT
PaddockCarnival behind theTT Grandstand.
Trophies forfive categories will be awarded
for‘theBest Racing Motorcycle in Show’ and
‘Best Classic and Vintage Road Motorcycle in
Show’,the ‘Best Car in Show pre 1946’, the
‘Best Car in Show1946-68’ and the ‘Best Car
in Show 1969-86’.Aswell as thetrophy, each
winnerwillalso receiveapair of tickets to VIP
hospitalityonaClassicTT race day.
On the 60thanniversaryofBob McIntyre’s
first 100mphlap of theTT Mountain Circuit,
Michael Dunlopwill paytributetothe
achievementwith acelebrationlap,dressedin
period clothing,onboard an identicaldustbin
faired Gilerarecreatedby KayEngineering.
On Sunday theactionmovestothe north of
theisland with the hugely successfulVintage
MotorCycle ClubManxSectionFestival of
Jurby, whichhas rapidlygrown to be theIsle
of Man’s largestone-dayevent and offers
entertainmentfor the wholefamily.On Sundayevening in the VIPhospitality area
fans will get the opportunitytomingle withTT
stars past and presentduring the RST Classic
TT HeroesDinner.The three-coursemealis
interspersed by aseries of interviews.
In whatmay be aonce-in-a-lifetime
opportunity forfans agenuine Honda-6 will
complete alap of theTT Mountain Circuit in the
handsoftwo-timeTT winner Steve Plater.
On Monday, August 28 the iconic Honda,
theonlysurviving RC165outsideofHonda’s
ownmuseum,owned byTeam Obsolete’s Rob
Iannucci, who hasshipped it allthe way from
the USA, willattempttodothe firstcomplete
lapofthe 37.73 mile longTT course since the
factory riders,Jim Redman,Stuart Grahamand
MikeHailwood usedthem in anger.
RobIannuccicommentedon the history
makingoccasion: “Team Obsolete has been
racingclassicbikes since 1978 and has now
competed in 1500 races with50riders. Our
victoryinthe 1984 HistoricTT,and the 1989
Manx GP MilneShield,sealed ourlove for
theMountain Circuit,whichrepresents the
ultimate challenge.Wehave made 26 starts in
all, with twowins and twofastestlaps.
“The ClassicTThas nowemerged as
thecrown jewelofclassicmotorcycle sport
worldwide.Weare honouredto have received
an invitationevery year sinceits inceptionto
shareour historic bikeswithour friends. All
of us comebecausewemust. Regardless
of wherewe hail from,we are alldrawn to
something very special. We all knowthat we
belong here.We see it in eachother’sfaces
and we feel it in ourbones.”CLASSIC
TT NEWS
Thankstogenerous
IOMSPCtravellers
Collections on board
sailings to the Isle of Man
during the 2017TT Festival
raisedarecord£19,465for
the RobVineFund.
Since the SteamPacket
Companyfirst instigated
the collection, atotal in
excessof £255,000 has been
donated to thefund,which
wasestablished in memory
of RobVine,acompetitor
whodiedafteracrash at
the BlackDub duringthe
1985 SeniorTT.
It is avoluntarycharitythatprovidespre-hospital
medical andrescuecare,
equipmentand training
of medics foranumberof
motorsportevents heldin
the Island.
The chequewas
presented to Dr David
Stevens,founder of the
RobVineFund. David said:
“I am overwhelmed by the
incrediblegenerosity of
TT fans. Everyyear they
demonstratefantastic
supportfor the Fund,
but the total donated in
2017,whichhas smashed
the previousrecord,has
astonished us all.
“Every pennywill gotowards helpingthe fund to
continue itsimportantwork
in ensuring vitalmedical
and rescueequipmentis
availableand medictraining
continues.”
Isle of ManSteam
Packet Companychief
executiveMarkWoodward
commented: “There is areal
senseofcommunityamong
road racingfans and every
year theydig deep to make
apersonalcontribution to
supportthe essential work
the RobVineFund doesfor
the sport.”
To find outmoreabout
the charity, visit
http://www.robvinefund.im012 Paddockgossip_SEP.indd 13 27/07/201716:01: