The season is almost upon us and as usual we are nowhere near ready! Last season was easy; the beast from the east trapped four good workers in the work shop for three days – and after three days solid hard work, hey presto, a bike was born.! This year things are a little slower, but we shall be there soon.
So, what are we up to ?
We have an ambitious programme of nine events and one test. There are two separate projects; Endurance, as usual, involving four events and an Aragon test, plus five International Classic Grand Prix (ICGP) races on the team’s TZ350’s.
These are the dates;
- Valencia ICGP 1st -3rd March
- Aragon three day test 23rd-25th March
- Paul Ricard 4 hrs/ ICGP 10th-12th May
- Oschersleben 4 hrs 6th -8th June
- Imatra ICGP 14th -16th June
- Donington Park ICGP 27th – 28th July
- Reijka ICGP 23rd – 25th August
- Classic Bol d’Or 4hrs 19th -21st September
- Misano 4hrs 11-13th October
The riders will again be our team regulars, Peter and Hugh, with Graeme Gowland hopefully joining us later in the season once he can be released from family duties. Graeme and Stephanie’s second child was born just 8 days ago. Congratulations from all of us.!
Motorcyclewise, we are building a Suzuki XR69 replica (a sister bike to the type raced by Michael Dunlop in the classic TT) which is a few weeks from completion. After a fantastic run of success with the Peckett & McNabs (Three European Classic Endurance series wins, 2013, 2015 and 2018) we are moving to new challenge using 17″ front and rear wheels. This move will allow us to capitalise on the changes in regulation ( date cut off 1986) and the availability of much more sophisticated and highly competitive new generation Continental tyres.
The hardcore team are not getting any younger, but a few new recruits have injected some youthful vitality and have brought the average team age back down into the forties! Its been a pleasure to welcome the newbies into the team and we are confident that they will catch the classic endurance bug. ( by the way; there is always room for new recruits; no experience necessary)
Finally, a big thank you to our sponsors for their continued support, without which, we would not be out there filling the grids, and hopefully winning.
More after Valencia. Go Peter Go……..
