Triples Who's Who

Triples Who's Who
Honorary Members & Famous Faces

Dave Croxford

When I first asked Dave to ride for the John Player Norton Team in 1972 it was to ride our JPN Production racers. Not knowing Dave well except to say hello at race meetings, I had selected him on his very successful past career on the British short circuits. On inviting him to come and have a chat at our HQ at Thruxton it wasn't long before I knew I had made the right choice in inviting him and was even more pleased when he accepted.

I have always thought that to be a successful professional motorcycle racer you have not only to be able to ride a motorcycle into the top positions but also you had to have a 'Presence' (he had), a large will to win (he had), and the ability to know how to make fans (he had), so it was not long before it was obvious that this guy Croxford proved that he had all of these attributes.

Soon after the start of the 1973 season I asked Dave if he would like to partner Peter Williams on our Formula 750 JPN. He gave me the standard "is the Pope a Catholic" look and thankfully for us said yes and so started that fantastic partnership between Peter Williams and Dave Croxford.

Peter: the thinkingman's racer, superb engineer, fantastic rider and a personality that knows how to get the fans; then Dave the Biker's hero, a sense of humour that could have put him on the stage and with one hell of an ability as a motorcycle racer.

Dave had one hell of a sense of humour and one year we were staying at the Douglas Bay Hotel in the Isle of Man and they had a dance on one night and I was sitting talking to this great old chap, let's call him Fred, and we were talking about this four cylinder road bike that he had completely made himself. Into the dance hall comes this women, a real scrubber and looked as if she had come in from the streets, anyway she looks round the room and spots old Fred and makes a bee line for him and sits down next to him. Old Fred is not happy and starts looking the other way, as you do, then the old dragon starts rubbing Fred's knee and sliding her hand up his thigh and having a little tickle, as you do. Fred starts slapping her hand and by this time all the people in the room are killing themselves watching - then all of a sudden I twig, it's only Crockers who's been dressed up, made up, wigged up by my wife Rita and Peter's wife Kerry, Dave the B::::rd had completely taken in old Fred and myself!
Frank Perris

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Ron Barrett