Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

to get through the field . I only caught Ian Lawton's Aermacchi right at the end. and until the very last corner either of us could have won. After what happened this morning, I'm elated." The finest field yet assembled anywhere in th e world for a historic race gathered at Assen for th e Dutch GP support event. second out of th e four such races being staged this year by th e International Historic Ra cing Organization (I H RO ), who had received more than 70 entries for th e pr estigious event at Europe's premier GP. Of th ese, just 45 were accepted for practice, with th e original intention being to hold timed qualifying for the 36 grid places. But with the inevitable practice mishaps and a couple of non-starters - sadl y including four-time Iorrner Worfd Champion Hugh Anderson, who had to postpone his trip from New Zealand for personal reasons - the organizers allowed all 39 surviving cont enders to start. Coupled with the sensible decision to start the 350 class 30 seconds after the 500s had departed, this gave the 35.000 spectators a large helping of nostalgia, with two races in one to grab the ir attention in the dry. though overcast conditions. In the wettest June in living memory in northern Europe. it was inevitable that the first Historic TT practice at Assen would be run in a torrential downpour, which made Chas Mortimer's performance in h eading the field by some two seco nds on the Norton all the more indicative of his undimmed riding talents. Equally impressive was wet- ," weather ace Boet van Dulmen, who slithered his borrowed Matchless around to fourth best tim e the first time he 'd even sat on it. But the real picture emerged the following day , when in a lengthened dry session Dave Hughes took pole position on the Arter bike. a second ahead of Alex George's Norton. R ichard Cutts' Seeley G50 and the Paton of Cycle News' contributor Cathcart. Just 0.2 seconds separated 350cc class leader Dave Dearden from ' Ian Lawton and P hil Woodhall. The rain fortunately held off for the Historic TT. The clutch starts now universally adopted for the other GP classes made the H istoric TT's traditional push start seem all the more nostalgic; almost as m uch as the wall of sound that enveloped the packed grandstands and pit lane as the race began. From the start, Cutts leapt into an immediate lead on his Seeley G50. hotly pursued by a pack of eight riders headed by Franz Glauser from Switzerland on a similar bike, Alex George. Dave Hughes, Bob Hirst and Tony Osborne, with Cathcart on the Paton making a poor getaway to be 15th into the first corner and having to scythe through the field to lie sixth at the end of the first lap. just ahead of van Dulmen. Dobson retired on the second lap with handling problems caused by a newly-fitted reartire that was out of balance, while Wittmann's fast Ducati broke its throttle cab le. a similar fate befalling Dearden's Aermacchi, then lying second in the 350cc class on the heels of Lawton's fast-starting bike. Cutts was breaking away slightly, while G lauser had now elbowed his way to the front and Cathcart was up to third. passing George and Hirst in one fell swoop in a sharp right hander after the pits. The heavier Paton braked less well than the British singles. though. allowing Hirst to retake third at the end of the lap under braking for the chi-: cane. though he was soon repassed under acceleration by the more c W inners Alan Cathcart and Dave Roper celebrate w ith other top finishers in the w inner's circle following the Historic TT, he ld at Assen. .. Cathcart claimed the w in in the 500cc class aboard a Paton . Roper rode to victory in the 350cc class aboard an AJS. IHRO Historic Grand Prix Road Racing Series: Round 2 Cathcart, Roper win at Assen By Robert Fawcett Photos by Kel Edge ASSEN, HOLLAND, JUNE 25 Great Bri tain's Alan Cathcar t arid Am erica 's Dave Roper emerged th e winn ers in the firstever Du tch Historic TT for classic bikes, ru n as p art of the Du tch G P program on Thursday, immediately after -r-r F l O h t. e Wor Id ~ ~ ormu a ne title race. Ca thcart took the overall victory and 500cc class 24 honors on his rare twin-cylinder Paton. hand-built in 1966 by Italian . . . . el:tth usIast ~lUseppe Pattoni with hIS own design of a DOHC paralleltwin engine and formerly raced in the GPs by Fred Stevens and Billie Nelson. " Pattoni' s been tryi ng to win a Grand ' Prix with h is Pa to ns for more than 30 years." said a jubilan t Cathcart after his victory. "This may not be a rea l GP but it's for sure the next best thing. I'm happy for Pauoni, and also for Maurice Ogier. who prepares the bike for historic racing and has made it as fast but . more reliable than i.t was 20. yea.rs . ago. while still keeping the bike in original. authentic condition. lowe this win to him." . For Roper, winner of the French Historic GP last year , victory in the 350c~ class at As~en was some co~solauon for having blown up hIS 500cc Matchless G50 's engine in final qualifying on the morning of the race. "Whatever made it stop, it was pretty terminal ," . said the bearded New Yorker. " T here was no chance to fix it, so we put in a spare 7R engine we had in the truck, stuck a black AJS fuel tank on the chassis, guessed at the gearing, and took it to the line. Then I had the worst start in my life. took off dead last with almost everyone else already around the first tum. and had to ride hard powerful twin. Hughes had take n to the slip road at the end of the main straight, retiring soon after since his rear brake cable had been severed in a brush with an errant backmarker on the warmup lap and the new lyfitted Manx Norton front drum proved inadequate to stop the ArterMatchless in the distance he was accustomed to brak e in. On lap three, Cathcart overhauled Glauser in the twisty back section and set off aft er Cutts. now four seconds ahead just as Dan Shorey retired his Manx Norton with a blown big end in th e engine. Gradually the Paton reeled in the Seeley. , till by the start of the fifth lap out of eight. the green Italian bike was hot on the heels of the British sin~Ie. Coming into th e horseshoe behind the pits, Cathcart swooped past under braking to lead the race, then pulled away slightly down the back straight. Just .th en , though, the Paton's fragile gearbox jumped o ut of gear. bending a valve sligh tly. "Normally it runs to 10.400 rpm." said Ca thcart after, "but after tha t I lost 500 revs and the Seeley had a slight edge down the straight. But my bike still accelerated better. and that's what told on a twisty track like this." Proof of this was given at the end of lap six, wh en with the two leaders locked together in battle. Cutts outbraked the Paton at the chicane to retake the lead at the end of the lap: but switching lines out of the chicane. Cathcart overtook him on the acceleration to lead again. A wayward backmarker slowed the Seeley rider further. and with a two second cushion, Cathcart took the checkered flag to win an exciting as well as nostalgic race. Cutts was a . worthy second: "That Paton handles so badly I didn 't know which side to try and repass him on, it weaved so much in the corners," he laughed afterwards. " But coming second in this race was no disgrace, especially on what must be the best GP circuit in' the world. I enjoyed it." G lauser and Osborne had their Seeleys locked in titanic battle for third place on the rostrum, which the Swiss rider narrowly secured at the last corner with a demo n outra king move after the two ha d traded p laces all through the last two laps. Alex George brought the first Norto n hornein fifth place, with Hirst six th. Meanwhile. an equally gripping ' outcome to the 350cc race was being staged. with Roper making a dreadful start from the back row and having to work his way up through the field. Lawton had established a clear lead. ahead of Woodhall's similar Aermacchi after Dearden 's misfortune, but then suddenly father Syd in the pi ts realized how swiftly Ro per was gaining, and hung out the 'Go Gaster' board. Ian responded by dropping no less than six secon ds from his lap time, but it was too late. On the last lap, Roper caught hi m four corners from the finish line. gambled everything on being able to pass the Aermacchi in the last tum. the chicane - and did so. Lawton resisted bravely. but was unable to shut the door tight enough on hi s American rival. whose amazingly speedy 350 AJS - faster than most of the 500 Matchlesses in the race just held the advantage to the line to win by half a length. Woodhall was third. • Results 500: 1. Alan Cat hcart (Part; 2 . Richa rd Cutts (See); 3. F. Glauser (See); 4 . T. Osborn e (See); 5. A. George (Nor); 6. B. Hirst (See); 7. A. Filhol (See); 8. D. Rens (Duc); 9. M . Booys (See); 10 . G. Begg (Nor). 350: 1. Dave Roper (AJS) ; 2. I. Lawton (Aer); 3. P. Woodha ll (Aer); 4. T. 8u l. (Pat); 5. P. Barren (H· D); 6. D. Robertso n (A re); 7. J . Evans (Nor ); 8. G. Godward (Aer); 9. D. Rumbold (Ae r); 10. D. 8a tchelor (Aer) .

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