Road Racing

...eerste klas mietjes zijn het...

...eerste klas mietjes zijn het...

Cock O' The North

Cock O' The North

Dat ze met een 'standaard' 600je al harder gaan dan met 'echte' 500GP machine in 1998 is eigenlijk ook wel verbluffend.

Dat ze met een 'standaard' 600je al harder gaan dan met 'echte' 500GP machine in 1998 is eigenlijk ook wel verbluffend.

flying kilometre Ulster GP

Die komen behoorlijk dichtbij langs!  

Britten at TT 2005



A Britten will be at the Isle of Man TT this year. I am arranging to have the Auckland owned machine at the Pre TT Classic with former 50cc & 125 cc Grand Prix title winner Hugh Anderson as the rider in the TT Lap of Honour.

This bike is the one, which was raced by the Britten factory with Andrew Stroud on board. It was raced most successfully at Daytona in the USA and in Europe and won many European BEARS titles. It has also won many top New Zealand titles and is the Britten, which was the most raced bike. This is now the only Britten (of 10 built), which is still regularly being ridden.

The owner, Mr Kevin Grant (a real motorcycling enthusiast - he rides on the road, races classic bikes and has a wonderful, but small, collection which includes the Britten) is spending over five thousand pounds preparing the Britten engine specifically so it can be ridden at the IoM this year. He is not a wealthy man and would very much appreciate some financial assistance.

It is a very expensive business preparing this motorcycle as you would imagine, and then there is the expensive exercise of air freighting the Britten from New Zealand to the IoM and back. Because of other commitments with this machine (Mr Grant takes this machine to schools in New Zealand for talks with teenage students who may be interested in advanced design) it is only possible to send the bike by air. Mostly financial assistance would be used to help prepare the bike.

Within the next 3 weeks we will be preparing advertising and media material and naturally any commercial or individual sponsors would receive worldwide coverage. We are also preparing Polo shirts and other apparel for the group associated with the Britten and naturally commercial logos will be included. The Britten itself will also carry the logo of any major sponsor prepared to contribute to the machine's preparation. This expensive machine preparation, using on the very best materials, is being carried out professionally by engineers who originally worked for the Britten factory under the supervision of genius designer, the late John Britten.

Any publicity you can generate will be much appreciated and any potential sponsors can get in touch with me at this email address.

The Manx Govt. (through Minister David Cretney) have supported the visit of Hugh Anderson, Kevin Grant and the Britten and we are currently seeking sponsorship funds to assist with machine preparation and transport from New Zealand. If you are aware of any Manx business, which would be prepared to assist, we would be very keen to hear back from you. Naturally any potential sponsors will be assured of receiving wide media coverage because the Britten is bound to be the centre of attention wherever it goes. Likewise Hugh Anderson who won numerous World titles in the 60s and raced many times with distinction at the Isle of Man TT.

I can also confirm that Hugh Anderson will be riding the Britten at the TT Lap of Honour and the Southern 100 Parade and would very much like to take part in the Classic TT Riders Forum during TT week. He will also be present with the Britten during the Pre-TT Classic event and probably could be persuaded to do a demo lap.

Hugh was here in Melbourne on Monday and tells me he is very much looking forward to his trip to the IoM TT this year with the Britten.

Hugh and Kevin Grant were at Phillip Island (Australia) racing in the "Island Classic" race meeting over this past weekend. They had borrowed my van for transport while in Australia and it was wonderful to catch up with them when they returned the van. Unfortunately I was unable to be at the Island Classic meeting over this past weekend as I and my wife, Maggie, were in New Zealand finishing our motorcycle pre-tour exploration in preparation for the WIMA tour in November.