Melville Club Bike Racing
Discussion
Went along to this at the weekend, got very wet and ended up going home early but overall it was ok, seemed to be very quiet the whole time i was there so there was no one to get in my way. Anyway here are the pictures, any comments welcome and you can see them all on my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanw89/
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Great pics, but madness...absolute madness.
I've a friend who's raced in the classics for years, but waaaay to risky for my yellow streak.
One of my bikes as a yoof was a Norton Commando, and I was a regular spectator to see the Nortons, Triumphs, BSAs, Tritons, Metisses etc all giving it big licks at Knockhill and East Fortune (and Beverage park too!) - and they're all now the 'classics'. I was up at a race meet not too long ago (on the humble GPz1100) and noticed that the classics were now on the same grid as the race 125s, with the classics starting a few seconds ahead.
I was fully expecting the classics (mostly full-on 60s/70s race hardware) to whup the weedy 125s...except the modern 125s were passing most of the 750s within a few laps
The fastest thing pennies could buy when I were a lad (it were all fields in those days) being lapped by 125s. Nope, the current crop of big bikes are just lunatic-fast. I'll stick to my sedate GPz (and the tvrolet
)
I've a friend who's raced in the classics for years, but waaaay to risky for my yellow streak.
One of my bikes as a yoof was a Norton Commando, and I was a regular spectator to see the Nortons, Triumphs, BSAs, Tritons, Metisses etc all giving it big licks at Knockhill and East Fortune (and Beverage park too!) - and they're all now the 'classics'. I was up at a race meet not too long ago (on the humble GPz1100) and noticed that the classics were now on the same grid as the race 125s, with the classics starting a few seconds ahead.
I was fully expecting the classics (mostly full-on 60s/70s race hardware) to whup the weedy 125s...except the modern 125s were passing most of the 750s within a few laps
The fastest thing pennies could buy when I were a lad (it were all fields in those days) being lapped by 125s. Nope, the current crop of big bikes are just lunatic-fast. I'll stick to my sedate GPz (and the tvrolet)Great pics Alan, really sharp. I think you were standing near me on a few occasions, using Canon gear?? Will say hello next time! Heres a few of mine, theres a full gallery up on site www.power-images.co.uk
Colin.
Colin.
tvrolet said:
Great pics, but madness...absolute madness.
I've a friend who's raced in the classics for years, but waaaay to risky for my yellow streak.
One of my bikes as a yoof was a Norton Commando, and I was a regular spectator to see the Nortons, Triumphs, BSAs, Tritons, Metisses etc all giving it big licks at Knockhill and East Fortune (and Beverage park too!)
Beverage Park, now that was some circuit. I raced there in the 70s and after a trip through the trees entering the start/finish straight, I missed them all, I decided I wasn't ever going back, it was just too dangerous. I've a friend who's raced in the classics for years, but waaaay to risky for my yellow streak.
One of my bikes as a yoof was a Norton Commando, and I was a regular spectator to see the Nortons, Triumphs, BSAs, Tritons, Metisses etc all giving it big licks at Knockhill and East Fortune (and Beverage park too!)
Skip forward several years, a break from racing while breeding a couple of kids and started racing again on a TZ350, it is announced that beverage park will no longer be issued with a track licence, so I get talked into competing as it will be the last ever race.
Wife and young sprogs come along to watch, (Mrs CT rarely used to come to events) so it is a family day out.
The grid positions at Beverage were not decided by practice times but by selecting a ring as you went to the grid, a tag on the ring told you your position, I picked one on the back row, however when the flag dropped my bike fired first time for once ( it was a push start in those olden days) and I cut right through the pack and was in fifth through the first corner, I was passed by one rider going into the second corner and held sixth to the end of the first lap. That was when it all started going wrong, second lap I was passed coming out of the first corner and decided to repass under braking into the second, locked the front wheel on the not inconsiderable bumps and went down. I did manage to miss all the trees and was not badly hurt but broke the gear shaft so my day was over.
At the time I was cursing those who persuaded me to enter (one of whom was on his was to hospital at this time with a broken collar bone) but now I am glad I competed at the last ever race at Beverage.
Col 666 said:
Great pics Alan, really sharp. I think you were standing near me on a few occasions, using Canon gear?? Will say hello next time! Heres a few of mine, theres a full gallery up on site www.power-images.co.uk
yep, canon gear. I didnt see many photographers there so more than likely it was me. I was wondering how you go about getting trackside access, I was thinking about emailing knockhill to see if they could help me out. How hard do you think it would be to get trackside for smaller events not talking BSB or Touring cars (although that would be nice). Trackside access is quite difficult to optain I am afraid, especially for the bike meetings. You have to have some sort of press accreditation or can prove you are working for some of the teams, you also have to have liability insurance.
Knockhill have stopped letting any more photographers trackside for car racing/trackdays as it was getting a bit out of hand, would be more people trackside than on the other side spectating!
To be honest the trackside access isnt that much of an advantage at KH, the only good point is when its a big event and very busy you still have a clear view, oh and you can stand inside the hairpin on bike days although the bikes can get a bit too close for comfort!
Knockhill have stopped letting any more photographers trackside for car racing/trackdays as it was getting a bit out of hand, would be more people trackside than on the other side spectating!
To be honest the trackside access isnt that much of an advantage at KH, the only good point is when its a big event and very busy you still have a clear view, oh and you can stand inside the hairpin on bike days although the bikes can get a bit too close for comfort!
Thats what i thought, probably the best bet is to try and contact one of the teams and offer to take pictures in return for a pass or something then. The only thing is as you say the events where i would be more likely to get a pass are the ones where you dont really need one. When it comes to the BSB and touring cars if im off work i'll just try and go on the saturday so its a bit quieter. When i was at the drifting it was so busy and thats when i really started wanting to get trackside
Even we have a bit of bother with the big 2 events. The touring cars isnt too bad but the BSB is a nightmare. They are very strict with the press and do not allow any pictures from the event to be sold to the public unless you have purchased a licence from them which costs about £500!!!
Iain my business partner has managed to get access for the last 2 years with a lot of difficulty even with Knockhill saying he was working for them, I have never actually been! I should be in the country this year so will see what happens.
Iain my business partner has managed to get access for the last 2 years with a lot of difficulty even with Knockhill saying he was working for them, I have never actually been! I should be in the country this year so will see what happens.
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