REGULARPADDOCK GOSSIP
14 ClassicRacer
The startofthe Four
Hour EnduranceRace.Phil Readalwaysdraws acrowd.No.1Team Neate:After58gruelling laps, RobertCollins with
John and Steven Neate,won theFour HoursEnduranceRace.BultacoTSS-mounted PeterBoast(UK)secures the win in
the 350ccGroup1BCGPrace 2.PatrickBanfield pushesteam-mateCormacConroy at the
startofthe Four Hour Endurance Race.Forracing enthusiastsfromacross
Europe, the first weekendinJuly means
only onething andall roadsleadtoSpa
Francorchampsfor theBikers’ Classics,
thethree-dayextravaganzathat has
evolved into oneofEurope’s largest
gatheringsofclassic motorcycles.
Theweather forecast wasdecidedly
ominous with plentyofthe infamous
Ardennes rain threateningtodampen
enthusiasm.Asitturned outFridayonly
sufferedacouple of light showers, but
Saturdaywas adifferent story,with wet
conditions fromstart to finish.
TheLeMans start of the European
ClassicSeries Four HourEndurance
race, one of the weekend’shighlights,
drew even larger crowdsthisyear,partly
due to the inclusion of GuyMartin who,
with team-mate PeterBoast,managed
averyrespectableseventh placeoverall.
However, it wasfatherand son Steven
and John Neate,togetherwith Robert
Collins, that were to take thehonours
after 58 gruellinglaps, afull lapahead
of second-placedTeamTaurus, with
Sweatshop Phase One’s Peter Linden
and Ian Simpsontakingthird.
Atotal of 64 riders qualified forthe two
IHRO/BCGP races on Sunday afternoon,
in whichPaton-mountedDarioTosolini
provedinvincible in IHRO2. In the 500cc
Group1there were winsforDutch riders
Mark BeltmanandTomGroot.
Local rider HermanVerbouenwon both
500cc Group2races and in the350cc
Group1itwas Aermacchi-mounted Chris
Turner who wasthe victorin race oneand fellowBrit Pete Boast on aBultaco
TSSwon racetwo.
GermanriderThomasRuckriegel
took apairofwins in theClassic
SuperbikeMasters Seriesin the Open
Extreme class on aYamaha XS1100,
while Manfred Goebert took both AMA
Legends classes.
TheGPParades arealways huge
crowd-pullers at theBikers’ Classicsand
this year wasnoexception,with a
mouth-watering arrayofformerMotoGP
and WSBmachineryondisplay.
This year the event wassplit into
twoclasses; GP machines from 1960-
1985 and from1986throughto today.
Thefreeaccessto the pit lane drew
spectatorsintheirdroves.This year’s
starsincluded Phil Read, riding aMk.
RG500; Wayne Gardener,celebrating the
30th anniversary of hisworld title with a
runonthe ex-Ian Lougher SuterMMX50 0
and GuyMartin on the Kevin Schwantz
1994 RGV500.
Ridersgot the opportunity to complete
twocomparisonlaps of the twoSpa
circuitsinaparade, one lap on the
current 7km trackand the second lap
on the ‘old Francorchamps’ whichwas
14km long.Other attractionsincluded a
drag racing displayand aLifestyle Village,
whichtookupthe entireareaunderneath
theF1pitsand had on display custom
bikesand choppers, including awicker
basket DucatiMonsterand alsothe much
heraldedFred Krugger Ducati XDiavel.Wordsand photographs:MarkMcCloskeyBIKERS’ CLASSICSBEATTHE RAIN
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