I wanted to race because my dad did, i used his bike for grass tracking on the now M6 motor way foundations, from a young age, he never new, we had to clean it off before he came home from work, he would have hit the roof if he had known, it was running points ignition so the main problem was charging the battery before we would charge it for an hr after coming home from school. the first time i rode it proper, we took it to long Marston where I hit a pot hole in the old runway, dad expected me to drop it he said the bike jumped off the ground 3ft, - I was actually hooked, from the age of about 10, dad went to cadwell park, he was always moaning, based on my age this would have been 1969/1970 cadwell park, anyway I went off and sent the day with this guy who was never out of the top 3/4 but I can not remember his full name but, he called himself Ernie OR ERNIE BARR?. He was very tolerant, a nice guy.
then in 1977 we went to Cadwell Park to check out the competition, I raced later that year for the first time, at Cadwell, i always believed it was 23rd may, my birthday, i always believed I raced on my birthday but there are no programmes from that year with the same date so I may have this wrong.
I remember - Brian Rodgers was doing all the winning that day, he was bragging in the pits he could follow peter and would wait for the last lap before passing,Peter styles to win, Brian rogers was riding i think the ex Tony jones Bantam, he said it was built by George Harris. Brian ing and Martin Baldwin were swopping the lead in the interclass. it was also the frist time we meet steve hall, who was riding a white faired air cooled shortstroke.
I have many memories, - I remember having a great start at cadwell having just built my new exhaust that made such a difference, the meeting before we were talking to tom miller who suggested we should open the exhaust port up to 96 degree's we were using the dAVE HUNTER TIMINGS BUT COULD NEVER GET IT TO REV ABOVE 8,000. at the next meeting I finishing 6th, the bike only reved to 8,900.0 but boy did it come off the start, we went to louth afterwards endd up at the same pub as the South Eastern Centre, I remember being congratulated by an intoxicated PT in the bar, the next day I was chasing Mark Carkeek into cadwell hairpin, and lost the front, I went down hard, way before the corner, a strange one, dad said i must have hit a stone while breaking, the bike continued on to the corner without me and took Mark out while he was rounding the air-pin, he was none too pleased. I also remember a few years later Steve chambers winning his first (novice race) again at cadwell, I had stopped infield and remember chatting to his Dad who was marshalling at the time, while he was jumping up and down saying "that my son".
Anyway, I have things to do so must get on - we ran the bike again today, and oil keeps leaking from the clutch cover screw heads, ? i need to check this, not sure why, needs sorting for the practice day.
cheers Derek
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Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:01 am
I actually, in my formative years, wanted to race cars and emulate my boyhood hero, Jim Clark but money wise it was a non starter. I was lucky??? enough to be dating Kieth Webb's sister in 72 and a Xmas meet in a pub with Kieth got me well and truly on the two wheeled track. Money wise it suited my pocket and Webby was a Bantam racer of some reknown so it made sense to go with the class. It was a great move as it taught me the ropes, especially having to ride the corners to make up for the straight line deficit and led to success in other classes, especially 250 Production, open 250 and Formula 1 
A great move and all started over a pint in a pub. 
