Old race images.

[Lucky Phil]

I got my scanner working today and decided to scan some old racing images.

Here's yours truly in the grey top and jeans at the 86 IOM TT during one of the pit stops in the Senior race 

Marco "Lucky" Lucchinelli in the pits at the Aussie round of the WSB 1989. He was team manager that year.

 

The rider that same year was Raymond Roche

[Tomchri]

What comes close to IOM,    NOTHING.   Remember having breakfast with the John Player Team every day, same hotel. 
We can handle some more memories Phil, thanks.

Cheers tom.

[Lucky Phil]

4 hours ago, Tomchri said:

What comes close to IOM,    NOTHING.   Remember having breakfast with the John Player Team every day, same hotel. 
We can handle some more memories Phil, thanks.

Cheers tom.

True Tom. I'll dig out some more images if they look interesting.

Ciao

[Lucky Phil]

2 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

True Tom. I'll dig out some more images if they look interesting.

Ciao

Daytona 1988. Guzzi content at last.

If you ever wondered what 5am practice was like at the TT, here you go. Lining up in the paddock for an early morning practice session.

 

More work on the bike at the TT. Here the 750 engine is fitted for the Senior race and we have the cylinders off on the 600 engine. Got a fan club as well by the looks.

Here's the bike after the Senior race. Axle the bikes owner in the brown top with the video camera. The guy in the blue sweater is John Williams who raced a GSXR750 proddy bike that year and in the yellow t-shirt is Richard Scott a Kiwi racer that came out to Australia in the early 80's and eventually went on to ride GP500's for Kenney Roberts the next year in 87. Needless to say he was a rather good rider.

Here's an image of our rider Pete Muir on the right about go out for the Formula 2 race. The rider on the left is Steve Murray who I crewed for a couple of years before in 84. Steve had been racing at the IOM for years and was at this time 54 I believe and still doing 110 mph laps on a F2 bike. His son is in the background with his bike, a TZ250 Yamaha that used RD250 crankcases as was the requirement for F2 in that the engine needed to be derived from a road bike. A TZ250 with a kickstart shaft in reality. Terrific bloke Steve an ex coal miner before working in the motorcycle industry. He was describing working in a mine and told me "it was so dark you couldn't see your hand behind your back", still cracks me up . He even went to race in Daytona back in the early 750's if I remember correctly.

 

Here one for you guys in the States, Fred Merkel, 1988 WSB Champion (the first year it was run from memory) at the WSB round 1989 Oran Park Australia. BP corner onto the straight.

Scott Doohan, Micks brother. Same corner, same year, same(ish) bike.

 

Ciao

[KINDOY2]

Enjoying them Phil!

[Lucky Phil]

Here's one for those people that say I never do anything. Me pushing our rider off again after a pit stop in the Senior race. John Williams is putting the re-fuelling gear back and the two guys in the red black and yellow are the marshals that give the bike a look over during the pit stop and make sure there are no mechanical issue. If there is they wont let you leave the pits until it's rectified. I didn't like the re-fuelling job just in case I gave the rider a crutch full of fuel. I stuck to the clean the screen and/or change the visor and give the bike a look over. We didn't need a tyre change.

  

And here he is under the paint flat out past the pits lining it up for the run down Bray hill at probably 160 mph on a flying lap. Not a great image behind the fuelling churns. My memory of all the riders going past here wide open a meter away flat on the tank looking through the fly spattered screen is one I'll never forget. Imagine the commitment of pointing the bike down Bray hill between the curbs flat out, needing the line to be near perfect, especially the boys on the big factory bikes. Like threading the needle at 180 mph plus with the consequences of getting it wrong not bearing thinking about. Respect. MotoGP riders, not quite in the same league. 

Ciao