Bantam Grid pics from late 70's early 80's

here's some bantam race grid pics, can you name any of the riders? what are they doing now? I know some of the others on these pics do you?

can we see some of your grid pics?

pic A

Cadwell bfrc late 70's

pic B

Lydden brc novice early 80's

pic C & D


Cadwell bfrc early 80's

pic E

Cadwell brc novice early 80's

pic F

Cadwell brc inters early 80's


Seasons greetings

Pic C& D - Nice to see 63 & 65 off the mark!

Pic E - The late Joe Paul - 48, who was tragically killed in a road accident. This machine was borrowed from John Pearce on the day as Joe's Banty blew up. This bike eventually became mine!

As a point of interest, Joe was right handed but allways push started his bike from the "wrong side"

Pic F - John Pearce (45) - If I remember rightly, John won this race - again on what turned out to be my first Bantam.

I'll have a dig around some of my photos from the period and post them up.

Rusty

This one is a very youthful (16?) Mike Powell and Me at Mansfield bend at Cadwell Park in 1983(?)

I was going round the outside of Mike at the time, although he swears that he had dived up the inside of me!

Incidentally, this photo was taken by Peter Wileman who is still snapping away to this day.

Rusty

On Picture E, I believe the rider on bike 36 is Dave Bennion brother to our latest returnee, on the Ex Pete Kynnersley bike, and the rider who is on the very same bike in picture F is Chris Bennion himself.
I will take a look and see if I can dig out some grid pictures myself and get them posted too!
Have a Great Christmas all the Bantam Clan
Alan

Josie Curtis at Brands Hatch 1981 (or2)
This is the Bantam that Phil Betty now campaigns





Snetterton - Coram Bend - this bike was faaaast - Note Senior status!

Incidental aside - The fairing on this bike was sold to Peter Tibbitts and a copy of that fairing is in use on his present machine!!





Lydden Novice race 1981 - I'm No 23



I suppose the only things that haven't changed are the cheeky grin and the Hair (bit greyer now)!!!



The favourite line on the outside of Mansfield Bend - Rider behind is Alan Sanderson. Alan is a very succesful artist despite the fact he has only one eye!!

Note the Monoshock (Canty Banty) Didn't work I'm afraid

Rusty

Me and Chris Bennion, Lydden 1977, I won and poor old Chris never got his promised revenge, sorry mate.


I was on the ex Roger Abbott Bantam and Chris's sister took the pic. I remember, just as i took the flag, the points fell apart and i had to push home. I fitted a lumenition kit for 78.

The winning Eastern Centre team, Debden 1977? This is a veritable who's who.


From left to right, Kieth Webb, Mick Scutt, Me, John Pearce, Peter Styles, Help me on this one(bloody memory), Bill Lawrence, Ted Smith.

Champions line up dinner and dance, 1980.

Me, dinner and dance 1979, with the first of my band aid awards.

Winning my first BRC championship on the X7, 1980.

Great pics Russ will ad some names to my pics when I get chance.


Mick love the pic of you hanging off that white X7, here's me a season or so later on my X7 at Snetterton, guess you'd be out on a LC by then.

Hi Tony, no actually, after 80 i got a TZ 250 but only managed 4th in the BRC championship, mainly due to me winning the band aid award for the second time In 82 i was riding the Rex Mardell 1,000cc Rickman Yoshimura Kawasaki on which i won the BRC 1300 four stroke championship. I retired in 83 while developing a P&M version of the bike. The only time i ever rode an LC was when i partnered our own Mick Potter in the BFRC 500 kilometres on his bike at West Raynham in 82.

Hi all pic B 50 SID GIBBON THINK 55 IS GRAHAM NEWMAN
pic C 6 NED
PIC D 2 BRIAN WHITE
JOSIE on the bike now that phil betty rides but with the front end that is now on STEVE FRAYNE BIKE.
Mick the one you are missing is TERRY BROWN.
RUSS the pic of lydden novice race with you in it 23
me on the front row blue&red lid in the middle on the bike that steve frayne rides

Of course, Terry Brown, well done Robbie, i can sleep now.

Mick Jones wrote:

Of course, Terry Brown, well done Robbie, i can sleep now.

I see the chief scrutineer in the middle (nice silk jacket) other pic

ROBBIE wrote:

Hi all pic B 50 SID GIBBON THINK 55 IS GRAHAM NEWMAN
pic C 6 NED
PIC D 2 BRIAN WHITE
JOSIE on the bike now that phil betty rides but with the front end that is now on STEVE FRAYNE BIKE.
Mick the one you are missing is TERRY BROWN.
RUSS the pic of lydden novice race with you in it 23
me on the front row blue&red lid in the middle on the bike that steve frayne rides

well done Robbie

it's poss that Russ' novice Lydden pic is the same race further up the grid!

pic Al to r Me, A.Moulden, S. Wright? P.Dodkin

pic B39 P Allen (now M Sprosen) 48 Me (now Brian Lane) 49 Ray

pic C 7 &8 me and Ray mixed with Cubs and relaxed MT125s 30sec delay

pic D 47Palfreman? very quick Cub

pi E 44 ray me behind 46 paddle start

pic F33 believe is Steve Chambers (went on to better things )


if anyone's got programmes for these races it'd be great to fill in the gaps

do remember the Ferrandands (spl) out on red bikes also at this time

Tony

My bloody shoulder aches , Happy new Year

tonydavis wrote:

Mick Jones wrote:

Of course, Terry Brown, well done Robbie, i can sleep now.

I see the chief scrutineer in the middle (nice silk jacket) other pic

My arch nemesis at the time, Colin Pole, I was runner up to him in the 79 250 proddy championship and he was runner up to me in 80.

Mick Jones wrote:

tonydavis wrote:

Mick Jones wrote:

Of course, Terry Brown, well done Robbie, i can sleep now.

I see the chief scrutineer in the middle (nice silk jacket) other pic

My arch nemesis at the time, Colin Pole, I was runner up to him in the 79 250 proddy championship and he was runner up to me in 80.

Come to think of it Mick was that your letter in the BRC mag about is scrutineering double standards?

I also remember racing with a different club and it was very wet day everyone was sliding off just before the gooseneck at Cadwell. Remember Poley at the edge of the track waving at me to slow down he'd become cheif marshall, even on his arse he was still keen to be involved

Very fast and smooth rider in his day, what's he doing now???

Dunno what he's doing now mate, he lived in Coalville, Leics at the time and when i went 250 proddy in 79 he became the man to beat, he had an X7 and i and the majority had RD's. I won at Lydden when he went down at Devils elbow and chased him all year. Unfortunately i went down at the 50 miler and had to settle for a lonely 2nd in the championship. I bought Colins bike from him for 80 and he had a new one, i took it to Terry Beckett to have any latest mods done to it but developed it throughout the season, it really was one of the quickest X7's out there. I also modded the suspension, within the rules i might add. I just kept sniping at Colin all year and it was his turn to not finish at the 50 miler that year which gave me the championship.
The controversy about scrutineering was about a really silly thing actually, seat padding, to have or have not. Some riders, myself included wanted to remove the padding to get a lower centre of gravity and feel more comfortable on the bike. The rules were a grey area on this and most clubs were happy to go along with the riders choice as a safety issue. The BRC and BFRC decided it contravened the rules by changing the bikes profile, not that many of them looked standard any more anyway. I got round it by fitting very soft foam in my seat, that disappeared when i got aboard. At the 50 miler they clamped down on this too, i led a riders protest and boycotted the race along with several others. We had been allowed to ride but for no championship points. When you consider my pistons only lasted a weekend, it was hardly worth it. As it happened Colin broke down mysteriously during the race and the Championship was mine anyway.
The whole debacle prompted me to go open class racing and i bought a TZ. Colin was what i'd call a fearless nutter on the track, he would quite often be seen, in the wet, standing on his footrests, sideways into a corner, hairy to the extreme. We became good friends besides the rivalry, which is a hallmark of our great sport. We lost contact after the proddy days, i believe he retired from racing but i'm not sure.

take care

getting the drift of this picture lark, here is another grid pictire fron about 1977
[img]
Riders known are all on the front grid from the nearside.
35 Paul Kean
41 Alex Huteson
9 unknown
32 Brian Lane
Unknown on red bike
18 Chris Bennion on far side

Hope this gets the grey matter moving!
Alan

Number 9 is Martin Baldwin he entered meetings as M.F.R. Baldwin was known in Eastern Centre as The Baron. He still races but unfortunately an MZ...

I knew Martin well, we lived close to each other. He went MZ racing through his business interests, he was a partner in an MZ dealership in Islington, called Burwin motorcycles. Are you sure it's Martin that still races, i heard it was his son, i might have heard wrong though.

Martin is still very active on the race scene. He races his own product, the very quick Burwin tuned MZ. Always up in the top 10 in a VERY competitive class. Has won the odd race as well.



Rusty

Sport-Pics wrote:

Martin is still very active on the race scene. He races his own product, the very quick Burwin tuned MZ. Always up in the top 10 in a VERY competitive class. Has won the odd race as well.



Rusty

Burwins is just round the corner from me, I went in the other year for something, I spoke to martin briefly about bantams and he says he preferes MZing as he's up against young riders

He looks a little bit like Catweasle these days

Nice Chap

Admin (Alan) wrote:

getting the drift of this picture lark, here is another grid pictire fron about 1977
[img]
Riders known are all on the front grid from the nearside.
35 Paul Kean
41 Alex Huteson
9 unknown
32 Brian Lane
Unknown on red bike
18 Chris Bennion on far side

Hope this gets the grey matter moving!
Alan

Another great pic

Love the paint jobs

35 looks like a Zebra fish


lets go back to putting multi coloured panels back on the grid