Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126965
Aermacchi-mounted David Dearden placed fourth overall with a come from -behind-ride that landed him f irst in the 350cc class. Jim Evans (2 0 ) passed Alan Cathcart (18) and went on to win t he f irst rou nd of the IHRD Historic GP Road Race Series at Jerez, Spa in . Evans, (m iddle), Hughes (left) and Cathcart in the winner's circle. A lan Cathcart pi loted his 500cc Paton twin to a third place f ini sh after ru nning nea r t he fron t for the entire race. IHRO Historic GP Road Race Series: Round 1 Nostalgia reigns in Spain By Kel Edge JEREZ, SPAIN, APR. 25 A strong field of classic racers travelled to the south of Spain to stage a supporting Historic GP race held in conjunction with the Spanish round of the 1987 World Championship Ro ad Race Series. Or. db h I f d gamze . y t e re.cent.y: or":le Intern~tI0!1a H Iston e Racing l Organ ization (IH RO ), the race turned ou~ to be a' thrilli.ng as well as nostalgic spectacle, wit h no less than four di fferen t riders trading the lead, before Brit Jim Evans clinched a narrow victory on his Bob Newby-t uned Seeley G50, less tha n half a secon d ahea d of Dave Hu gh es on the famous ex-Peter Will iam s Arter-Matc hless. IHRO foun der and organizer Alan Cathcart gave a great send-o££ to h is rece n t ly-formed Ang lo-Spanish Past Perfect Racin g Team setup by.taking third p lace o n his 500 Paton twin , to complete a trio of Bri ts on the rostrum. The fact th at so man y riders too k part in the Jerez race was an indication of their depth of enth usiasm for the IHRO form ul a , which caters for purpose-built, authentic period racing bikes with a smattering of specials built during the era covered, up to 1972. The o nly two-strokes ad mi tted are European-made si ng le-cy li nde r machines, wh ich mea nt of co urse that at J erez th ere were a numb er of Span is h Bultacos a n d Montesas, incl uding th e ex-works Bar celon a 24 Hour-winning mach in es of leading Spa n ish classic riders J uan anton io Fontquerni and Carlos G arriga. Toge ther wi th J oaquin Fol ch (Ma tch less G50 ), th e other half of Past Perfect Racing who is wellknown abroad), th ese represented the main Spanish opposition to the foreign invaders, which included severa l riders in th e list of 36 entries from France and Switzerland, as well as 17 riders from Britain.. Heading the lineup and tak ing time o ut from his duties as manager of the Team Kataya ma Armstrong- H onda sq uad was born-again racer Chas Mortimer, now a firm supperter of th e class ic rac ing scene and riding Ian Tel fer's 500 Man x Norton wh ich he pla ns to cam paign in severa l future historic even ts. Dennis Ch ristian and Frenchman j ean-Luc Cu vill ier were mou nted on simi lar bik es, w hi le the riva l Ma tchless bri gade was head ed by Dave Hu ghes on th e Arter bik e, Mike Boo ys, Jim Evan s, Alain Fil hol a nd Mic hel La fargue on Seeleys, and Folch o n the lon e sta nda rd G50 - . though Ala n Ca thcart had h is Matchless there in case the fast bu t frag ile Pat on sho uld succumb to its achilles heel of gearbox trouble in practice. Com pl eti ng the leading 500cc class conte nders was Rob Prior with hi s beau tif ull y-m ade Percy T ai t . Repl ica T r ium ph twin , a well execu ted copy of the mach in e Tai t rode to second p lace in th e 1969 Belgian G P at Spa c, but bui lt up from a roadster Daytona base. The 350cc class feat ur ed the inevita ble clut ch of Aerm acch is, pil oted by man y of the lead in g British riders of such bi kes today: Dave Dearden, Ph il Woodh all, Drew Rob ertson ; Graha m Godward and Paul Barrett headed the list, with Denn is Batchelor o n his 250 'Macchi combi ning a spot of classic raci ng with hi s efforts in the 80cc G P class o n his Kra user: he no n-q ua lified for the tiddl er race , but was first 250 home. in th e H isto ric GP. Apart from the Bul tacos, on ly J o hn H older 's 7R AJS posed any threat to Ital ian domina tio n in th e smaller class. Timed qua lifyi ng whi ch followed Friday's 500cc G P practice saw Evans snatch pole position in a time which would have pu t him comfortably on the gri d for th e 125cc GP; Dearden, in th ird pl ace on the gri d, was the fastest 350. The race was run in th e same gloriously su nny conditions a t th e end of Saturday practi ce for th e modern GP bik es, to minimize th e risk of oil sp illage causing an y problems; interestingly, the organizers gave an o££icial figure of 35,000 sp ecta to rs for th e H isto ric race, ' indicating th e interest in th is rela tively novel form of bike raci ng in Spain . Just as rem arkable in a way was the manner in which the GP paddock and garages emptied the mselves of the modern bi ke teams as the golden oldies came to the line: the classic bikes have beco me a welcome and accepted part of the G P scene.