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The TR3OC Beezumph Rally |
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Beezumph 15 8th & 9th September 2006 | ||||||
The Beezumph Rally grows and grows. This year was number 15..... As always, an enormous amount of hard work and commitment went into this year's Beezumph Rally - our fifteenth, so it could be reasonably assumed that we knew what we were doing. The fickle nature of the Cadwell weather system often throws a spanner in the works, but not this year… The months and months of planning, cagouling and hoping are all part and parcel of staging The Beezumph Rally. A date in September was our only option this year as MSV gave us one date and one date only, and this only after some intense 'negotiation' and calling-in of favours. |
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As has been already said, we are the only small-time outfit to be given a weekend
date this year at Cadwell as Racing now pulls rank over everything else at Cadwell.
Indeed, it turned out that our September date was fine - as was the all-important weather. As all of you that were there will attest, the sun came out to play along with one of the highest number of visitors ever. This, due in part to a massive splurge in Motor Cycle News the previous Wednesday, gave rise to a packed field on the Thursday night - never been seen before. The place was heaving, and it was all shaping up nicely… By the end of it all, many people were saying that B15 was 'the best one so far'. So what made it thus? Sure, the weather played a major part, as it was hot and sunny throughout, but most people again cited the Beezumph atmosphere as the Real Deal. |
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This year's line up of bikes, riders and guests was - arguably - the best yet, with guests we'd be trying to entice along for years and years deciding to come, it really was a Who's Who of the 60's and 70's Triple racing scene. This year, we just about got the lot - everyone who was a major player in our corner. It was great to see Percy Tait, Bob Heath and Tony Jeffries at our event for their first time, in the company of their compatriots our Patron Jack Shemans, President Les Williams, Arthur Jakeman, Ron Barrett, Bill Fannon, Fred Swift, Martin Russell, Don Woodward, Ron Chandler, John Cooper, Steve Brown, Mick Grant, and Paul Smart, with Alastair Laurie, Tommy Robb, Derek Rumble, Mick Hemmings, Jerry Summerfield, Lea Gourlay, Georges 'Moto Martin' Martin, Frank Perris, Chris Vincent and Allan Robinson out there too. |
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The Beezumph Rally is always a showpiece for exotic machinery, and this year was no exception, with Ron Chandler, Chris Vincent, John Young and Steve Brown riding ex-Triumph/BSA factory genuine machines in the company of swathes of other fabulous (and quick!) Triples. It was a day for Boyer Seeley Triples, Moto Martin T150s, Rob Norths in abundance, the unique Harris T150 owned by Glen Roberts, Rickmans, a Difazio Rocket Three, a Hyde Harrier, trick specials, totally standard machines, and tastefully modifieds. It was a fantastic array of three-cylinder kit, which gave onlookers and devotees alike hours of spectator pleasure. Out there too of course were hundreds of other great machines from across the Real Bike spectrum, ranging from an AJS Stormer through Harley XR1000s to Norton Commandos. Dean Simpkins brought his fantastically rare Linto along for an airing, which sated the expectations of the lovers of Italian exotica, and Chris Wilson sent along his genuine Rob North 750 Honda (the sole survivor of an original two, one a 750 the other a 500) which the CRMC's Gordon Russell belted round. Jerry Summerfield fielded a swarm of his 500 Manx Nortons, ridden with aplomb by current race hero Lea Gourlay. |
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With Norton Rotary machines out there, a Rickman Interceptor, ex-factory Nortons
from the Peter Williams era, the ex-Charlie Sanby Seeley Commando, G50s, 7Rs, Vincents,
Scotts, Gold Stars and just about every other bike you'd want at home in your shed, the
B15 track was a treat to watch.
And watch many many hundreds of people did. Coming from all over the place this year, from Canada, USA, Germany, Finland, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Eire, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and England. |
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This year, for the first time, we introduced a sidecar session on both days. Open to any sidecar outfit, racing or street bike, it attracted a respectable number of entries. It was perhaps a bold move, but seemed to go down well with the Beezumph Crowd. The initial plan was to get the outfits 'demonstrating' for a 15-minute session on both Friday and Saturday directly after lunch but Friday's session was so successful that it was deemed appropriate to double that for the Saturday with a session both before and after the lunch break. Unfortunately it all went horribly wrong on the pre-lunch session when one of the outfits dumped (all of) its oil around three quarters of the pristine track, for some reason unaware that just about every flag was being waved at them. |
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The Cadwell Marshals spent their entire lunch break cleaning up the surface, while we looked
on aghast. Somehow they managed to clean it all off, and we sent the outfits out again
after lunch as previously agreed. Unfortunately another mishap, although a lot less messy.
This was quickly cleaned up and after a short delay it was Game On again for the solos' track
sessions.
Throughout the event we received many compliments about the slickness of the on/off track arrangements. Directed at Clerk of the Course Graham Redrup, it is a measure of the man's modesty and Team Spirit that he in turn handed the accolades straight back to the Track Session participants pointing out that their track discipline and willingness to be in the right place at the right time was the reason that the event ran like the beautifully oiled machine that it has become, and that they all got a record seven track outings on the Friday. These days we have very little down time as a result of spills or running out of fuel, and this is one of the reasons we all get so much track time. |
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It was great to see Mr Georges Martin at Beezumph this year, with two of the Moto Martin T150s he built in the mid-70s. I suspect that few realised that Georges built frames for Triples and that one raced in the Bol d'Or, but he's been well and truly outed now! We contacted the UK Moto Martin Club and invited them along to meet 'The Man' and it was good to see their enthusiasm both on and off the track. Georges Martin thoroughly enjoyed himself at B15 and is already asking the date for next year's event. Bob Heath took one of Phil Pick's machines out for some brisk exercise as did Alastair Laurie too, but the action wasn't all happening out on the track - it was good to see so many of our Honorary Members walking around the Paddock area chin-wagging about past glories with their compatriots and those of us who looked on in awe all those years ago. Tony Jeffries, who had flown down from Yorkshire and gave an impromptu flying display when he left (allegedly…) especially seemed to enjoy himself. |
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The Saturday evening prize giving was its usual light-hearted 'ENDEX' and those that won gongs appeared suitably surprised. TR3OC Club Founder Tim Smithells did the honours of handing out the prizes, with Georges Martin winning 'Man of the Meeting' and Ron Chandler again winning the 'Best Sounding Triple' seeing as his ex-Jim Rice F750 machine was the only bike to be black flagged due to an excessive dB reading out on circuit! Marvellous! Judy Pickrell generously agreed to present the Ray Pickrell Cup, which this year was most deservedly won by our Editor Dave Smith for all his sterling work for B15 (the award is given to someone who has gone the extra mile with regard to assisting a Beezumph input), and the Ian Hamilton Trophy was won by our Technical Secretary Pete Churchill who rode up from deepest Cornwall on his bike with all his gear tied on the back, rode it in the track sessions, then rode it home afterwards. The BBQ Battalion cadre did an outstanding job of the ritualistic 'flame-grill', despite having been supplied with the wrong type of fire bricks. Resident pyrotechnic exponent Joe Selley soon 'encouraged' a satisfactory state of affairs, and things slowly took shape. It took a very long time to feed the five thousand (well, okay, five hundred) yet not one single person complained - even though some had waited over two hours. The most common thing said to us from that queue was "thank you very much for a great weekend".
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